Belgium recently secured a 5-1 victory over New Zealand, which positioned them at the top of Group G and theoretically set them up for a favorable last-32 matchup. However, Rudi Garcia displayed visible irritation during the post-match press conference. Adjusting the microphone, he addressed the media’s perception of his team.
“I really didn’t appreciate them being called has beens,” he remarked, referencing a piece from La Libre, a Belgian French-language publication, that likened Kevin De Bruyne to a faded Hollywood star following a lackluster performance against Iran in their previous encounter in Los Angeles.
“When a nation has players of that calibre, you support them,” Garcia emphasized, commending the contributions of his “Are you under pressure? Has the game against New Zealand changed anything?”: De Bruyne, Romelu Lukaku, Thibaut Courtois, and Leandro Trossard, who netted twice against New Zealand. Trossard’s initial goal marked Belgium’s first self-scored goal of the tournament, coming after 45 attempts and over 200 minutes of play.
His goal came after a mix-up in defense, as Chris Wood and Tim Payne inadvertently marked each other closely, enabling Trossard to break the deadlock. De Bruyne also found the net, Lukaku scored just 56 seconds after entering the game, and Charles De Ketelaere rounded out the scoring. Following such a dominant win, questions arose regarding the team’s morale and the implications for Garcia and Belgium.
During another press conference on Tuesday, which preceded their match against Senegal, Garcia appeared reluctant to discuss whether the convincing win had eased any pressure. Instead, he turned the questions to De Ketelaere, who was seated beside him.
“Yesterday [Monday] showed us that to be favourites or not doesn’t matter,” Garcia queried his player. The topic of early exits for teams like Germany and the Netherlands also surfaced. De Ketelaere responded, “We wanted to end first in the group and this is what we did,” When it was Garcia’s turn to speak, he simply said, “I wish we had won more games – all our games – 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’t 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.” with a smile.
Despite the prevailing negativity surrounding Belgium’s tournament thus far, it is essential to remember that they have not lost in 16 months, with their last defeat being a 3-1 setback against Ukraine, which coincidentally was Garcia’s inaugural match as coach. While their performance prior to the impressive win over New Zealand was underwhelming, this record is noteworthy.
Garcia also noted the positive health status of his squad, with Jérémy Doku, De Ketelaere, and Lukaku all showing improved fitness levels. Zeno Debast is also available for his first minutes of the competition after recovering from a leg injury. Should Belgium advance, they may face the USA in the round of 16. Earlier this year, in a friendly in Atlanta, Belgium dominated Mauricio Pochettino’s team, winning 5-2. They also achieved an unbeaten record during qualifying, scoring 29 goals and recording back-to-back six-goal games, along with a 7-0 victory over Liechtenstein.
Does this latest significant win signal the start of Belgium’s serious World Cup campaign? “It’s not a big advantage,” Garcia stated. “I was following young players and I told Robert: ‘You should have a look at this young Senegalese player,’”
The recent victory also allowed Belgium to remain in Seattle, where they have trained for the past three weeks at the Seattle Sounders’ facility in the city’s suburbs.
“It’s 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. “But his career is something that he built – he was a wonderful player and now a wonderful coach. He’s a good man, a good person, but I’m going to defeat him, which is too bad for him … I’m looking forward to seeing him again.” Garcia mentioned, acknowledging the formidable challenge posed by Senegal, currently ranked 18th by FIFA, eight spots behind Belgium. He noted his familiarity with Senegal’s head coach, Pape Thiaw, from his days at Saint-Étienne, where he worked alongside Robert Nouzaret and John Toshack.
“I was following young players and I told Robert: ‘You should have a look at this young Senegalese player,’” Garcia recalled. “It’s 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.
“But his career is something that he built – he was a wonderful player and now a wonderful coach. He’s a good man, a good person, but I’m going to defeat him, which is too bad for him … I’m looking forward to seeing him again.”
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