Peter Vandenemppt: “I would like to see Keita or Vermeeren start against Sweden” | Preliminary round of the European Championship

I want to see another good match against Sweden on Monday with many goals.

I’m curious to know if Onana’s suspended replacement will be Youri Tielemans. Tielemans was the first to be introduced by Tedesco against Austria.

At a time when things were really exciting and Belgium was under a lot of pressure, the national coach still had the nerve to field these two inexperienced boys from Antwerp: Keita Mandela and Arthur Vermeeren.

And I must say, in those few minutes they were on the field, they showed great maturity.

Keita and Vermeeren knew exactly what to do: run like crazy, close all the gaps, go everywhere in the duels, block and block shots. They really did it perfectly.

I would like to see one of them on the pitch next to Mangala instead of Onana, if that is the national coach’s intention.

Maybe it’s also time to try something in the back. For example, to put Zeno Debast instead of Wout Faes.

It’s not just the defense that is shaky and hasn’t always performed well. But there are still some individual achievements that make you wonder.

Not qualifying for the European Championships and also not qualifying for the first round of next year’s European Championships depending on the draw. However, to be able to play an important role against a better country at a later stage.

I think it’s okay to experiment a little.

It has become clear that this national team is still in the process of being formed, as we expected. It is good, then, that this team was able to immediately qualify for a major tournament.

But if you look at the size of the difference and turnover compared to the World Cup in Qatar, it makes sense that this team is still in the stage of full development and that there is still a lot of work to be done. There is still a lot of work to be done.

Just as was the case with the World Cup in Brazil in 2014, you have to say that next year’s European Championship in Germany will be a learning experience for many players and a first introduction to the special features of a major tournament.