Doku, Lavia, Debast, Bakayoko…: here is the crazy selection of Imps that will never see the light of day

Texture encore U21

Jérémy Doku, Johan Bakayoko, Arthur Vermeeren, Aster Vranckx and Zeno Debast have been considered members of the A – despite their eligibility in U21 – for a long time. But many others were called by Domenico Tedesco to join his Nations League “laboratory” while Swerts’ team played important matches at the same time. We think of Koni De Winter, Malick Fofana, Arne Engels, Matte Smets, Julien Duranville and Maarten Vandevoordt. Or even more recently to Kilian Sardella, Samuel Mbangula and Norman Bassette, summoned mainly for convenience to replace absentees at short notice.

“But it’s something normal in an U21 team. Because the first goal is for the players to join the A team”Gill Swerts kept repeating, a good player despite the situation which weakens him and also creates instability in his group. We knew this in advance. But everything was discussed with the national coach. We look at the profiles, we look at the opponent. And then we see how we can best resolve this.”

This is how Norman Bassette was sent to the Red Devils, and not Lucas Stassin or Roméo Vermant, who were the two starters in attack on Friday. Added to this are several injured players (Duranville, Fofana, De Winter) who create a domino effect, then certain other players who have not yet accepted a selection with the U21s (Godts and Fernandez-Pardo).

“In a way, it’s a shame that there are so many absenteesrecognizes Ghent midfielder Mathias Delorge, who took advantage of the call-ups from Vermeeren and Engels to A to invite himself into Swerts’ eleven. “But it’s also good for other boys who are hungry and want to try their luck. We are with a lot of boys who have a lot of qualities. Boys who want to show off.”

The Imps condemned to the feat in Czechia to join Euro 2025: here are the reasons to believe it

Aware that, in an ideal world, he would have been able to count on a very high level team, Gill Swerts does not want to feel sorry for himself. “I find it too easy to use that as an excuse to go back and say “what if”. I think there is still enough quality in this selection, in the extended U21 core. On the other hand, I think that we are conceding some unlucky goals. And this kind of thing can happen to anyone.”

In the event of a stunning feat this Tuesday evening, the Imps would see Slovakia in seven months. But with which group? It would necessarily be improved to meet the challenge, but not revolutionized. Because the Red Devils will also need qualities to begin their qualifying campaign for the 2026 World Cup at the same time.