The success of their “Red Devils” is a rare rallying point for soccer-mad Belgium, otherwise deeply divided between its Flemish-speaking north and a Francophone south ahead of general elections next year.
Starved of success since reaching the World Cup semi-finals in 1986, a golden generation of players featuring such stars as Eden Hazard, who plays for Chelsea and Manchester City’s Vincent Kompany, jointly lead their group with Croatia on the qualifying road to the 2014 World Cup in Brazil.
On Tuesday, manager Marc Wilmots’ team beat Macedonia 1-0 in Brussels before an enthusiastic and boisterous crowd of 47,000 who made no distinction between Flemish or French, cheering on their team.
Photo: Reuters
“We have had a lot of political conflicts in Belgium in recent years, but I can see that soccer brings everyone together,” said one Flemish supporter. “We are all the same and we are all here to support the Belgian team.”
The World Cup in Brazil opens on June 12, next year, just two weeks after general elections scheduled for May 25 which are shaping up to be divisive, with some Flemish nationalists pressing for as much distance as possible from the south and its socialist ways.
If the national team, however, qualifies for Brazil, the players will be making their final preparations just as the election campaign unfolds, cutting across the political rhetoric as supporters of both persuasions get behind their team.
That may make calculating the political odds even more difficult than last time around in 2010. After polls that year, the country’s north-south divide prevented the formation of a government for 500 days, with an interim administration left in charge.
For the team itself and manager Wilmots — who enjoys support from both communities — the political backdrop can color everything they say.
In October after beating Scotland, Wilmots called on his fellow-countrymen to “remain united” while Kompany, the captain, said: “Belgium is for everybody, but this evening, it is for us.”
That remark drew considerable attention, being taken as a direct riposte to the Flemish nationalist leader, Bart De Wever who a few days earlier had said, “Antwerp is for everybody, but this evening, it is for us,” as he won local polls for mayor of Belgium’s second largest city and its commercial heart.
“Me, I play with my Belgian colleagues, I don’t play with my Flemish colleagues,” said Hazard, from the French-speaking south, in a pointed remark about his commitment to his teammates.
However much is made of the backing for the national team, political analysts are cautious about what impact it might have on the polls.
Dave Sinardet, a Flemish-speaker, said he was far from sure it would dent support for De Wever’s New Flemish Alliance (N-VA), currently polling around 35 percent to 40 percent in Flanders.
“You can very well be a great supporter of the national soccer team, but still vote for the N-VA,” Sinardet said.
“Not all those supporting the N-VA are separatists or anti-Belgium or want an independent Flanders. There are many who vote N-VA because of the party’s free-market liberalism and its anti-tax stand,” he said.
On the other side, the upturn in national sentiment as the team advances is an opportunity not to be missed.
Socialist Belgian Prime Minister Elio Di Rupo, a French-speaker, wore a scarf in the Belgian national colors as he chaired a Cabinet meeting the day of the Macedonia match.
The monarchy, which has run into some criticism in the past from the N-VA, was not slow either to make the point.
“This national team, it’s formidable for Belgium,” Crown Prince Philippe said as he left the stadium on Tuesday after the match.
US national team star Folarin Balogun was among the scorers as AS Monaco on Friday won 3-1 at Paris Saint-Germain, dealing a blow to the side from the French capital before they face Chelsea in a crunch UEFA Champions League round-of-16 tie. Maghnes Akliouche gave Monaco a first-half lead at the Parc des Princes, and Aleksandr Golovin doubled their advantage early in the second half of the French Ligue 1 clash. Bradley Barcola pulled one back for the reigning European champions, but Balogun struck shortly after with a fifth goal in his last five games as Monaco claimed a precious
West Ham United on Monday advanced to the FA Cup quarter-finals with a 5-3 penalty shoot-out win against Brentford, who paid the price for Dango Ouattara’s spot-kick blunder. Nuno Espirito Santo’s side twice blew the lead as Jarrod Bowen’s double was canceled out by an Igor Thiago brace to force extra-time in the 2-2 draw at the London Stadium, but in the shoot-out, Brentford winger Ouattara attempted a chipped Panenka penalty, but his woeful effort was straight at West Ham goalkeeper Alphonse Areola. It was an awful mistake by the Burkina Faso international and West Ham took full advantage. Bowen, Valentin Castellanos, Callum
Teenage star Lamine Yamal’s superbly-taken goal on Saturday earned Barcelona a 1-0 win at Athletic Bilbao in Spanish La Liga. The champions restored their four-point lead over second-placed Real Madrid, who had on Friday temporarily closed the gap by beating Celta Vigo. Atletico Madrid tightened their grip on third with an entertaining 3-2 win over Real Sociedad. Yamal, 18, curled into the top corner after 68 minutes to split the sides at Athletic’s San Mames stadium. “We’re already seeing what Lamine can do — he puts it right in the top corner, and there’s nothing the keeper can do,” Barca
CHANCE TO QUALIFY: Both teams now have three points from two games, and Taiwan sit ahead of Vietnam and behind Japan, who last night beat India 11-0 Taiwan yesterday defeated Vietnam 1-0 to move into second place in Group C at the AFC Women’s Asian Cup with one match remaining. Su Yu-hsuan scored the decisive goal in the 26th minute after Taiwan midfielder Saki Matsunaga’s shot hit the crossbar, leaving Su to nod the rebound into an empty net for the team which won the last of their three Asian Cup titles in 1981. It was a deserved victory for Taiwan, 2-0 losers to Japan on Wednesday, who created several chances to extend their lead. Vietnam, the 2022 quarter-finalist, beat India in their opener, but struggled to
RSS