Wales against Belgium looks on paper as a typical fight between David and Goliath. Taking into cognisance the fact that since Brazil hammered Wales 3-0 in the quarter-final match of the 1958 world cup in Sweden, the Welsh have not reached a major finals since then. Side by side the fact that the Wales team will be walking into the Stade Pierre-Mauroy stadium in Lille tonight to take on a Belgium side that is 24 places above of them in FIFA rankings.
As a matter of fact, Belgium is the second best team in world football behind Argentina and tournament co-favourites. Notwithstanding they got battered 2-0 by Italy in their first group match. However, the Marc Wilmots coached Red Devils responded well to that setback and had since fired in eight goals against opponents in three games with no reply. The Belgians bask on plenty of confidence as they face Wales, who will be their biggest match since the 1958 World Cup. And manager Chris Coleman is not in two minds about this.
The Wales boss who wished his father were alive to see what Wales have achieved said: “Since that 1958 quarter-final, we have to put this down as the biggest game our country’s ever been involved in.” But he refused to see his side as underdogs. “People have already said: ‘Wales can’t lose, they weren’t meant to get to the quarter-final, they’re the underdogs.’ This definitely isn’t the way we see it.”
Wales was a mouthful for the Belgians during the EURO 2016 qualifications. They took four points off Belgium in qualification. Having got this far, they are already making history at their first European Championship and also emboldened.
The Welsh have kept back-to-back clean sheets, against Russia and Northern Ireland, and did not concede a goal against Belgium in the two-legged Euro 2016 qualifying games.
Real Madrid’s striker, Gareth Bale, joint top of the goalscorer charts (with three), will again lead the Welsh challenge for a semi-final reward in Lyon on July 6 and for a place in immortality.
“From that night, we have gone up to another level,” Bale told reporters, referring to their 1-0 win over Belgium in qualifying. “It was a changing moment for us but we’ve taken our game on, gelling even more.”
Wlales is boosted by the good news that their captain, Ashley Williams has recovered from the shoulder injury he picked up against Norther Ireland. He had laboured till full-time with the injury. He underwent tests at the start of the week, but joined in with full training on Wednesday.
Wales captain Williams
Wales face a weaker Belgium side, due to injuries, than the one they defeated in the qualifiers. The injury woes of the Red Devils appear endless. It keeps getting worse. Regular centre-backs Vincent Kompany and Nicolas Lombaerts didn’t even make it to the tournament, while Jan Vertonghen has been ruled out of the game due an ankle ligament injury. To make things hopeless, Thomas Vermalean of FC Barcelona is suspended for yellow card offences.
Vertonghen blow came when he suffered an injury in training yesterday. He rolled over on his ankle as the coach blew his whistle to end the session. It is whispered that he could be out for months. Despite this, Belgium is expected to find replacements as there is abundance of talents in the squad. bear in mind that Liverpool’s duo of Origi and Benteke are only warming the bench.
This is the first time these teams have met in the finals of a major tournament and it holds a promise of a thriller. Never mind that the last three encounters between the two sides produced only three goals.
Wales will greatly trouble Belgium defence, marshalled by new comers. But at the end, Belgium, with a ruthless Romelu Lukaku upfront and mercurial Eden Hazard have experience on their side.
Lukaku celebrates a goal with team mate
This apart, Belgium has what looks like home advantage. Lille is just 10 miles from the Belgian border and it is estimated that there will be up to 150,000 Belgium fans making the trip.
The winners will face either Portugal in Lyon on Wednesday
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