Deprived of victory against the Blues in an official match for 43 years, the Belgians could see themselves achieving a big blow this Monday (8:45 p.m.) in Brussels. “We will have to have a fantastic day,” insisted this Sunday the highly contested Domenico Tedesco.
It was September 9, 1981, at the Heysel stadium in Brussels. Facing Michel Platini and his gang, goals from Alex Czerniatynski and Erwin Vandenbergh allowed Belgium to knock down France (2-0) and book their ticket for the 1982 World Cup. A historic meeting over a title since it is still today the last victory of the Red Devils over the Blues in an official match. There were two successes at the Stade de France in 2002 (2-1) and 2015 (4-3), but each time it was in a friendly. Enough to spice up the upcoming duel between the two neighbors this Monday (8:45 p.m.), in Brussels, for the fourth day of the League of Nations.
Tedesco puts Mbappé’s absence into perspective
“I think it can be a big motivation. For me, the glass is always half full. It’s a big motivation, we can achieve something historic. We just took a point against Italy, it “It’s already positive. We should be in for a fantastic day,” Belgium coach Domenico Tedesco underlined this Sunday at a press conference, under fire from criticism since the elimination of his team in the round of 16 of the last Euro. against… France (1-0). The last match against Italy on Thursday (2-2), which saw Belgium trail 2-0 before coming back to 2-2 in numerical superiority, did not help its popularity rating. The fault lies in highly contested choices, such as the positioning of Jérémy Doku as a piston.
“I’m not completely crazy. I wanted to have a lot of possession and defend by moving forward. But it didn’t work. Sometimes it goes well, and sometimes not,” admitted Tedesco, who promised not to repeat the experience against the world vice-champions. Finally, questioned about the much-discussed absence of Kylian Mbappé, left at the disposal of Real Madrid, the Italian preferred to praise the qualities of the blue-white-red offensive breeding ground. “It doesn’t matter who plays. Look at the team they have. They can play on the left with Barcola, Thuram, Kolo Muani… But of course Mbappé has something really special,” he said.
He knows that France did not need its captain to hurt his team during their last clash, on September 9. The Blues won 2-0 in Lyon, and Mbappé entered the second half once the score was already established.
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