Jackie Mathiesen is full of praise and is certainly about as an alternative to Antwerp

The Belgian Under-21 national coach began by apologizing to the Dutch press. This week he had refused to speak to them in Dutch because according to protocol everything had to be done in English. “I have to apologize to the Dutch,” he opened. “It was a misunderstanding,” Mathisen grins. “I even got under my feet from my Dutch family. So this time I’m going to do everything in our language.”

Immediately next day order. “Netherlands responded across the board in the first twenty minutes,” said Mathijsen. “They are undoubtedly hoping to win 1-0, so they can kill the game after that. But we fought through that difficult period with strength and mentality. And of course with some luck too.”

After the initial stage, it was necessary to make a number of corrections. For example, Vertisen shifted to the right and with the contribution of Antwerp winger Michel-Ange Balikuesha, the game tilted even in favor of the young Red Devils. “It would have been better to appoint someone with specific qualities for this job,” Mathisen said of his tactical changes. “We also went a little bit lower. After that, the pressure from the orange towards the defenders dropped and we were able to play through it regularly. We became the better team.”

Few great chances, but scoring a goal just wasn’t possible in the end. “I told my colleague it would have been 3-3,” Mathisen smiled. “It was a high-level match between two big teams, but we won’t know until after the group stage if these two points are losers or a golden point.”