{"id":519219,"date":"2026-07-01T02:06:17","date_gmt":"2026-07-01T02:06:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/519219\/"},"modified":"2026-07-01T02:06:17","modified_gmt":"2026-07-01T02:06:17","slug":"belgiums-leaders-backed-to-disprove-has-beens-tag-in-senegal-challenge-belgium","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/519219\/","title":{"rendered":"Belgium\u2019s leaders backed to disprove \u2018has beens\u2019 tag in Senegal challenge | Belgium"},"content":{"rendered":"

Belgium had just beaten New Zealand 5-1<\/a> to secure top spot in Group G and, at least in theory, an easier last-32 draw, but Rudi Garcia was evidently irked. In response to the first question in a curt post-match press conference, he adjusted the microphone to ensure his point was heard.<\/p>\n

\u201cI really didn\u2019t appreciate them being called has beens,\u201d he said alluding to an article in La Libre, a French-language Belgian newspaper, that compared Kevin De Bruyne with a washed-up Hollywood actor after a flat display against Iran<\/a> in their previous match in Los Angeles.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen a nation has players of that calibre, you support them,\u201d Garcia added, praising the performances of his \u201cfour leaders\u201d in De Bruyne, Romelu Lukaku, Thibaut Courtois and Leandro Trossard, who scored twice against New Zealand; Trossard\u2019s opener represented the first goal Belgium scored themselves at the tournament (after an own goal against Egypt<\/a>) at the 45th attempt after more than 200 minutes of labouring.<\/p>\n

It came after some comical defending, Chris Wood and Tim Payne inadvertently marking each other touch-tight to allow Trossard to open the floodgates. De Bruyne got on the scoresheet, Lukaku headed in 56 seconds after stepping off the bench and Charles De Ketelaere applied the gloss. So, where is the feelgood factor and where does a comprehensive victory leave Garcia and Belgium<\/a>?<\/p>\n

On Tuesday, back at a press conference top table before Wednesday\u2019s meeting with Senegal, Garcia seemed uninterested in answering questions about whether that trouncing has helped grease the wheels or, indeed, lightened the load, instead deferring to De Ketelaere, who was sitting alongside him.<\/p>\n

Rudi Garcia (second left) and Charles De Ketelaere (second right) face the press in Seattle. Photograph: Fran Santiago\/Getty Images<\/p>\n

\u201cAre you under pressure? Has the game against New Zealand changed anything?\u201d Garcia asked his player. Early exits for Germany and the Netherlands invariably came up, too. \u201cYesterday [Monday] showed us that to be favourites or not doesn\u2019t matter,\u201d De Ketelaere said. Then it was Garcia\u2019s turn. \u201cLe m\u00eame chose,\u201d he said with a smile.<\/p>\n

The nature of Belgium\u2019s tournament to date makes them feel susceptible to an upset but, amid the undercurrent of negativity, it is easy to forget it is 16 months since they last tasted defeat, a 3-1 loss to Ukraine. That also happened to be Garcia\u2019s first game in the job and while they undoubtedly underwhelmed until eviscerating New Zealand, it is a record that must count for something.<\/p>\n

Garcia also has a healthy squad, with the fitness of J\u00e9r\u00e9my Doku, De Ketelaere and Lukaku all improving and Zeno Debast available for his first minutes of the competition after a leg injury. If Belgium progress, they could face the USA in the last 16. In March this year, in a friendly in Atlanta, Belgium overpowered Mauricio Pochettino\u2019s side, winning 5-2. They were unbeaten in qualifying, racking up 29 goals, recording back to back sixes, plus a 7-0 win against Liechtenstein.<\/p>\n

Charles De Ketelaere<\/a><\/p>\n

Does their latest big win feel like the start of their World Cup<\/a> in earnest? \u201cWe wanted to end first in the group and this is what we did,\u201d Garcia said. \u201cI wish we had won more games \u2013 all our games \u2013 but we are not going to go back to the past. What matters now is that we have progressed out of the group stage and we know that we are playing the strongest third-placed team: Senegal had a very tough group with France, Norway and Iraq and this is probably why they finished third, but it doesn\u2019t matter because if you want to go far in a World Cup you have to defeat good and excellent teams: Senegal is here and we want to progress.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Victory last time out also allowed Belgium to remain in Seattle, where they have been based for the past three weeks, at Seattle Sounders\u2019s training headquarters in the suburbs of the city.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s not a big advantage,\u201d said Garcia, who expects a tough challenge from Senegal, 18th in the Fifa rankings, eight places behind his side. Perhaps it helps that he knows Pape Thiaw, Senegal\u2019s head coach, from his days at Saint-\u00c9tienne, where he assisted Robert Nouzaret and John Toshack.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was following young players and I told Robert: \u2018You should have a look at this young Senegalese player,\u2019\u201d Garcia said. \u201cIt\u2019s funny because I had forgotten about it but when we saw each other in December for the [World Cup] draw we hugged and he reminded me.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut his career is something that he built \u2013 he was a wonderful player and now a wonderful coach. He\u2019s a good man, a good person, but I\u2019m going to defeat him, which is too bad for him \u2026 I\u2019m looking forward to seeing him again.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Belgium had just beaten New Zealand 5-1 to secure top spot in Group G and, at least in…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":519220,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[85,46,105],"class_list":["post-519219","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-sports","tag-il","tag-israel","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/519219","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=519219"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/519219\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/519220"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=519219"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=519219"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=519219"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}