Relief for Belgium but questions for the defence after dramatic win over Wales
BRUSSELS, June 10 (Reuters) - There was relief for Belgium after scraping through a dramatic World Cup qualifier against Wales on Monday but plenty for coach Rudi Garcia to ponder after a narrow 4-3 home win.
Belgium had been cruising at 3-0 up inside the first half-hour of the Group J match at the King Baudouin Stadium but Wales fought back to 3-3 with 20 minutes left before Kevin De Bruyne grabbed the winner two minutes from time.
'The most important thing is that we won. Psychologically it is tough to give away a three-goal lead, but we showed our mental strength,' said Garcia after Belgium's second game in their qualifying group for the 2026 finals in North America.
'We kept fighting. It is symbolic that Kevin of all people scored the winning goal."
De Bruyne had been a key factor throughout, ghosting in at the back post to convert Youri Tielemans' cross for the winner.
Tielemans, who was captain for the night, said relief was the primary emotion after the game.
"We are happy with the victory, but we know that should not have happened to us," he said of the Welsh comeback.
"I have no explanation for how that happened. But the craziest things can happen with the national team.
"We felt we could finish the match earlier, but then we dropped off a bit. Then we conceded a goal and their confidence grew. They were simply the better team at that moment.
'We had to defend together as a team, choose the right moment to react and get back into the match but we didn't do that well."
Belgium conceded a late equaliser in their group opener against North Macedonia on Friday and the defence will come under more scrutiny after allowing Wales to score three.
Belgium travel to Liechtenstein on Sept. 4 for their next qualifier before hosting Kazakhstan three days later.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Reuters
9 minutes ago
- Reuters
Belgian club Leuven dismiss former Wales manager Coleman
June 12 (Reuters) - Former Wales manager Chris Coleman has been fired by OH Leuven six months after joining them, the Belgian club said. The former Wales defender was appointed in December by Leuven, whose owners also control Leicester City, and he led them to an 11th-place finish, enough to qualify for playoffs for a potential spot in European club competition next season. "In those playoffs, the performances remained below expectations. That is why the club is now opting for change with a view to next season and is ending the collaboration with Coleman," Leuven said in a statement. Coleman, 55, took Wales to the European Championship semi-finals in 2016. He also managed English clubs Fulham, Sunderland and Coventry City, and Spain's Real Sociedad.
BBC News
9 minutes ago
- BBC News
Wales ready 'to do some damage' at World Cup of Darts
Wales' Jonny Clayton says he and team-mate Gerwyn Price are ready to "do some damage" at the 2025 World Cup of international doubles tournament takes place in Frankfurt, Germany, with Clayton and Price eyeing a third success for pair were victorious in 2020 and 2023, while England's Luke Humphries and Michael Smith lifted the trophy in year, five-time winners England are represented by the top two players in the Professional Darts Corporation's rankings - Humphries and teenage sensation Luke speaking to BBC Sport Wales, Clayton says second seeds Wales can cause an upset."All the talk is about the two Lukes, but I'm sure me and Gez can do something about that," said Clayton. "Gezzy is a great front runner and I think I'm a pretty good number two, so we click as a team. "Hopefully we will do some damage this year. If we can lift that trophy for a third time it'd be great." Price and Clayton have both had their share of success against Humphries and Littler in May, Clayton beat Humphries on the way to winning the Dutch Darts Championship, while Price and Littler each won half of their match-ups in the Premier 'The Iceman' agrees with the favourites tag being placed upon England."There's no reason why they're not favourites," said Price. "But there's a lot of good teams that are going to be there."Anybody can win it but they're definitely favourites."As one of the top four seeds - alongside England, Scotland and Northern Ireland - Wales begin their World Cup campaign in the second a result Wales will not play until Saturday, when all 12 second-round matches take the second round through to the semi-finals, matches are best of 15 Sunday's final the number of legs increases to the best-of-19. In every round of the competition, the match-ups are played as one-off doubles matches, and Clayton believes his and Price's rugby experiences gives them an edge."We go out as a team, and I think the rugby background helps," said Clayton. "We've played in team games before, and I know rugby is completely different to darts, but it is the team mentality."We believe in each other and you have to believe in your team-mate."While both Clayton and Price have Welsh aspects to their standard darts jersey, 'The Ferret' says there is something special about representing the country at the World Cup."There's no better feeling than representing Wales," added Clayton."Being a Welshman, I'm so proud when I put that jersey on."No matter what sport you play, if you can represent your country there is no better feeling."
Times
12 hours ago
- Times
Tired players face 100-minute games as Fifa ignores Club World Cup fears
Fifa has ignored pressure from players and unions and will use stoppage-time rules at the Club World Cup that are likely to make some games last more than 100 minutes. Pierluigi Collina, the Fifa referees' chief, said officials have been told to compensate for any time lost to injuries, goal celebrations, penalties or red cards. The same rules were in place at the 2022 World Cup, when England's game against Iran lasted 117 minutes. Collina also revealed that assistant referees have been told to be 'braver' in raising their flag for obvious offsides — and that a new semi-automated offside system will alert them when a player is ten centimetres or more offside. Players unions are already concerned about the demands on individuals of a big new summer tournament and Uefa took a more relaxed approach for Euro 2024. Former Manchester City midfielder Kevin de Bruyne has been among those who criticised the longer matches. Collina said that match officials had been told to encourage games to restart quicker, which should reduce stoppage time, but that the strict approach would still be applied. 'This is the Laws of the Game, that there are losses of time that should be compensated at the end of the match,' Collina said. 'They are simply compensating for time when the ball was off. The objective is to make the game more enjoyable and entertaining. There is nothing entertaining with the ball not being on the field of play. So, certainly, the time loss will be compensated. 'By being proactive to restart play quicker at throw-ins, goal kicks, corners and free kicks, the time added would be reduced, probably.' The 2022 World Cup had an average stoppage time of a little more than 11min 30sec, more than double the previous tournament in Russia in 2018. Premier League matches were nearly two minutes shorter last season than the previous year after instructions to referees to be less strict on stoppage time, which was down from 11min 35sec to 9min 53sec for matches played between August and February. Collina also revealed that match officials should raise their flag if a player is 10cm or more offside rather than leave it to the VAR. It follows the Nottingham Forest striker Taiwo Awoniyi being injured when play was allowed to continue despite Anthony Elanga being clearly offside in the build-up. Awoniyi collided with the goalpost as he tried to reach Elanga's cross and had surgery on a serious abdominal rupture. At the Club World Cup, a new semi-automated offside system will send a message to the assistant referee when a player is 10cm offside or more so they can raise their flag immediately. 'We have encouraged our referees to be a bit braver with offside,' Collina said. The Club World Cup will also see referees wear body cameras for the first time as part of a trial. The footage will be available to broadcasters to use for goal replays and will also be available to VARs if required.
