We are a day away from the big USA vs Belgium round of 16 match, so its time for another preview.
playmaking Eden Hazard
Belgium was at least my pick to be the tournament dark horse, even though Belgium hasn’t qualified for anything since the 2002 World Cup, so how good can they be? As a team it is still a mystery what Belgium is, but looking at each of the individual 23 players, they are very good players and will give the USA a hard time.
Only 3 of the 23 players play in Belgium, the rest all play on top European teams. And not just play for them and ride the bench, they are starters on these teams. Top playmaker midfielders like Eden Hazard, who plays for EPL Chelsea, will give our defense a hard time. Young 21 year old forward Romelu Lukaku will give our central defenders a physical beating (6′ 3″) and will need to be marked at all time tightly by someone. He played on loan last year to Everton and hit 15 goals in EPL action (also contracted by Chelsea).
Team captain Vincent Kompany (Manchester City EPL) is doubtful, but we know he wont miss this game.
team captain Vincent Kompany listed as doubtful for this game
Since the beginning of last year Belgium is 13-2-2 overall, including 8-0-2 (8 wins two ties) during qualifying, going undefeated. No doubt Belgium has some of the best players playing on some of the best teams in the world, and since 2012 we have seen this.
A lot of these key players you will see tomorrow have emerged over the last 2-4 years, so like I said earlier, because this current generation of Belgium players haven’t played long together or accomplished anything yet, they are a bit of a mystery, but don’t be fooled.
can the USA defense shut down Romelu Lukaku?
In the group stage Belgium played and beat Algeria, Russia, and South Korea, not exactly top talent, this is why I think USA has a chance and can beat Belgium, but again, this will be difficult. Yes Belgium and USA did play last summer and Belgium did win 4-2, but this is now!!
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