Hein Vanhaezebrouck’s methods are sometimes mysterious. In his European Championship preview, the former KAA Gent champion builder suddenly came up with a favorite shade that no one expected. “For me this is E2,” he said with a mysterious smile. Below is his argument.
Who could be the surprise of the upcoming European Championships? It turns out that this is not an easy question to answer for both Heine Vanhisbrouck and Peter Vandenbempt.
HVH didn’t look very far. “I don’t think anyone outside will see the Red Devils as favourites. Let me consider Belgium as favourites. In the European Championship, anything is possible, right? It’s usually the defensive-minded teams that surprise, but let me talk about that.” . “We are also doing something exceptional.”
Vanhisbrouck then wanted to add a (striking) outside player.
“E2” confirmed.
Read: The team that will soon finish second in Group E for the Red Devils.
“I think that’s a very good position to be able to surprise,” Vanhisbrouck continued his argument. “We of course hope to see Belgium in E1 (as group winner, ed.), so E2 will most likely be for a team like Ukraine.”
“In the final eight they will play against the second-placed team in Group D – perhaps the Netherlands or Austria. But then you can avoid France in the quarter-finals. You can play Portugal instead.”
Ukraine is a country at war and wants to make itself as visible as possible.
Heine Vanhaysbrouck
Vanhisbrouck later also argued why he saw Ukraine as an underappreciated competitor.
“It’s not because of the quality, it’s because of the circumstances. We shouldn’t underestimate that. It’s a country at war that wants to make itself stand out as much as possible – and sport is a perfect part of that.”
Incidentally, Peter Vandenemppt retained Turkey and Austria as favourites.
“Bracket” for the knockout stage of the European Championship.
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