UEFA Nations League: Neighbouring Nations Open Their Campaign

Belgium vs Netherlands

No sooner has another frenetic domestic season ended then we are straight into international football as the third incarnation of the UEFA Nations League begins.

This is a competition which I questioned when it was launched in the autumn of 2018 and my feelings then remain very much the same now.

Then I pondered if it would just be the brain ache of yet another tournament, the concept of which would even fail to inspire some of the players.

That yet another tournament would simply add to the strain on top players, making it more difficult to rest senior professionals and blood youngsters.

Yet there were those in the opposite camp who felt matches of this nature would only improve many of those players and nations competitively, testing themselves against more equally matched sides than the “David and Goliath” mismatches often thrown up in qualifying groups and since the tournament was expanded, the odd World Cup and European Championships.

Wherever you or I stand is irrelevant in many ways because, certainly for the moment, it appears here to stay.

Let’s hope for some Nations League 2022 highlights in the King Baudouin Stadium in Brussels on Friday night then.

Talking Points

This is the start of six games in four months for both nations in the tournament.

Netherlands, beaten finalists in the inaugural competition in 2019, finished second behind Italy in the 2020-21 UEFA Nations League which meant the European champions advanced to the semi-finals of the competition.

Since then, they completed their successful World Cup qualifying campaign last November with a 2-0 victory over Norway before playing two friendlies against Denmark and Germany in March – beating the former 4-2 before drawing 1-1 with the latter three days later.

On the team news front, Louis van Gaal has not called up Georginio Wijnaldum who, despite his 26 international goals, hasn’t featured too often for PSG in recent months.

Marten de Roon, Owen Wijndal, Donny van de Beek, Ryan Gravenberch, and Arnaut Danjuma are also not in the squad.

Watch out for Memphis Depay though as 30 of his 39 national team goals have come in this competition since it began in September 2018.

Belgium, meanwhile, will be without the services of last weekend’s star man in the Champions League Final in Thibaut Courtois due to a groin injury.

Jason Denayer is also missing (ankle) so Dedryck Boyata could start in the middle of the defence.

Courtois’ teammate for club and country in Eden Hazard could also well feature as he recently recovered from a leg operation having only played  903 minutes for Madrid all season.

And of course, then there’s the country’s all-time top marksman in Romelu Lukaku, who has 68 international goals to his name, needing 10 more to jump above Pelé into the top 10.

Belgium finished top of their group in the 2020-21 UEFA Nations League to reach the semi-finals where they lost 3-2 to France before suffering a 2-1 defeat to Italy in the third-place play-off.

Can they go one better this time?

Certainly, they are on a four-game unbeaten run since and have not lost on home soil since a defeat to Spain in November 2016 – Roberto Martínez’s first as manager.

We shall soon see how much of an incentive this tournament is or whether both will leave their powder dry with the World Cup in Qatar now just five and a half months away.

History

This will be the 128th meeting of two countries closely intertwined and an international derby of sorts, which arouses passion and emotion.

The Netherlands hold sway, winning 55 to 41, but it is now 25 years and eight games since the Oranje last triumphed in this fixture.

That run was triggered a decade ago when an up-and-coming Belgium team claimed a famous 4-2 win in a match seen as the birth of the Golden Generation.

On that occasion, three goals in five minutes in the final quarter of an hour turned the match on its head for the Belgians, whose scorers were Christian Benteke, Dries Mertens, Lukaku, and Jan Vertonghen.

Luciano Narsingh and Klaas Jan Huntelaar were on target for Netherlands who were as they are now, managed by van Gaal who last summer came out of retirement to coach his national team for a third time.

There have been 31 draws, including the last two meetings in 2016 and 2018 which were both friendlies and ended 1-1.

In Amsterdam six years ago, Yannick Carrasco cancelled out Davy Klaassen’s opener.

Meanwhile, in 2018 in Brussels, Mertens was the Belgium marksman before the Dutch levelled through Danjuma.

Their last competitive fixture was actually at the 1998 World Cup when they drew 0-0 in the group stage.

Betting Tip 

The Belgians start as favourites with the SBOTOP Nations League 2022 betting odds, priced 1X2 @ 2.25 and Holland @ 3.05.

I am going to plump for level pegging though, so I expect a draw for this one.

 

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