Despite the international plaudits why is Belgian football struggling to get its house in order?
The quality of Belgium’s players has never been higher but the game itself needs a rescue plan.
When does an international friendly turn into a training session? It is common enough during a game, and usual at half-time or shortly afterwards, but Belgium manager Roberto Martinez made no attempt to disguise his aims when he named his squad for tomorrow’s match in Dublin and the game against Burkina Faso next week.
Nearly all the big names are missing, from Thibaut Courtois in goal to Kevin De Bruyne and Romelu Lukaku in attack. The familiar characters are mostly journeymen such as Divock Origi and Christian Benteke and one or two who never quite made it such as Michy Batshuayi.
