De Bruyne takes charge as Ireland are blown away
If the Belgium conundrum is not yet solved then at least there is the beginning of a working formula to liberate Euro 2016’s greatest all-star attacking cast, and the national team that the Fifa rankings say are second in the world only to Lionel Messi’s Argentina.
Marc Wilmots’s side suffered the usual creative problems in the first half, the difficulty of every man trying to play his own tune against a Republic of Ireland defence that was well-marshalled and full of energy. The pace was slow and the going hard and then, two minutes into the second half, Kevin De Bruyne spotted an opening, Romelu Lukaku scored their first and Belgium never looked back.
This was prime De Bruyne, a man who hammered at the door of Ireland’s defence from the very start and finally slipped the lock two minutes after halftime, leaving James McCarthy watching £55million of talent disappear up the pitch to create Lukaku’s first goal. The dynamic of the game was changed in an instant, and by the time Martin O’Neill shook Wilmots’s hand at the end Ireland had been torn into little pieces by the Belgian ensemble.
With De Bruyne in the central playmaking position Belgium look a much more effective side than the one which lost to Italy when Marouane Fellaini fulfilled the same role, with his own unique interpretation. It seems pretty obvious now that the Manchester City man is the creative force who gives this group of star footballers their cohesion.
In the first half, Belgium moved the ball too slowly, although O’Neill’s side insisted on giving it back to them every time an attack broke down.
Even the Ireland manager had to admit that his team had shown little control and not enough ambition to attack themselves when they managed to get out from under the Belgian dominance: “I felt we were coping reasonably well and when we lost it we got back into shape,” he said. “But when we had the ball we gave it away.” There was cause for regret in that instant, but ultimately this was a game when Irish backs were always going to be up against a cold wall. To his credit O’Neill rejected the chance to bemoan the fact that he is obliged to select his players from, at best, the likes of Everton and Sunderland while Wilmots is an international manager who orders off a Champions League menu.
The Euro 2016 destiny of O’Neill’s team rests now on the result against Italy in Lille on Wednesday, when they will, in all likelihood, be in competition with Sweden for a third-place finish. That Italy have already qualified suits Ireland, so too the necessity for Belgium to beat Sweden, although no one expects Antonio Conte to do Ireland any favours.
O’Neill said that his players were “adamant” there should have been a penalty for Toby Alderweireld’s high challenge that made contact with Shane Long’s head, an incident which immediately preceded the breakaway for Lukaku’s first goal. On ITV Howard Webb said he would have given a penalty, although it seemed like one that other referees would also conscionably wave away.
Within seconds the game had changed for good and, one goal down, the Irish were vulnerable to the leaving the kind of big spaces in which the likes of De Bruyne and Eden Hazard can thrive. Indeed it was the latter, Belgium’s unlikely captain, who eluded the tackle of Ciaran Clark with the ease of a man stepping out of the bath before he ran half the length of the pitch to square the ball to Lukaku for Belgium’s third.
In between those two Lukaku goals, Axel Witsel headed in a second, and by then it had really started to look easy for Belgium. Wilmots did not need much invitation to stick one on his critics, addressing what you might say are the big issues facing an international manager at a major tournament.
“Apart from death,” he said, “I don’t know what else can affect me.” He selected Yannick Carrasco, the Champions League final goalscorer for Atlético Madrid in place of Fellaini while Mousa Dembélé replaced Radja Nainggolan. The Tottenham Hotspur man went off with an injury late in the game and his influence will be crucial when they play Sweden on Wednesday in Nice.
The first half was always hard for Ireland and they had to chase some very good footballers around on a warm afternoon in Bordeaux, yet there were not many good chances for Belgium. Hazard struck a shot over the bar from inside the penalty area from John O’Shea’s clearing header, although even as the ball dropped to Chelsea’s little winger the Irish defence was recovering their position and closing down the options.
Belgium had 69 per cent of the possession in the first half and most of it was channelled through De Bruyne, who crossed for the Hazard chance and tried in vain before the break to find a ball through to Lukaku, denied the space in behind a deep Irish defence. With McCarthy snapping around his heels, Belgium’s No 7 could not find the game’s big moment.
For all that, Ireland just could not make more of the few chances to break out of their own half. Long was surrounded by the giants of the Belgium defence, and was often isolated, and it was hard for him to make much progress. On the wings, Jeff Hendrick and Robbie Brady worked hard at closing down Belgium but, like Wes Hoolahan, they also struggled to offer much going forward.
It was just gone two minutes into the first half when De Bruyne deceived McCarthy out on the right and cut back for Lukaku to take one touch and dispatch the ball right-footed past Randolph. The second was a fine Witsel header after Belgium had been given too much time and space to build a position from which the full-back Thomas Meunier could cross.
The less Ireland dwell on the third Belgium goal, made by Hazard, finished by Lukaku, the better. When they have the space, Belgium can destroy a team. It is what they do when it is denied to them that will define their progress in this tournament.