The Golden Generation of Belgians

The FIFA World Cup is not far away and already many teams have booked their tickets to the World Cup in Brazil. The teams that have qualified so far are Brazil, Argentina, Colombia, Netherlands, Italy, Belgium, Germany, Switzerland, Japan, Australia, Iran, South Korea, Costa Rica and USA. Further 18 teams are expected to join them for the mega event.

However the team that has impressed me the most among them is Belgium. Belgium has caught everyone’s attention as they sealed their berth in next year’s World Cup and in the way they have leapfrogged to sixth in the FIFA Rankings. Quite an achievement for a squad that was 54 in the FIFA rankings a couple of years back.  Much of the credit should go to the English Premiere League which has helped so many Belgians to flourish. Players like Romelu Lukaku, Eden Hazard, Marouane Fellaini, Christian Benteke, Jan Vertonghen, Mousa Dembele, Nacer Chadli, Thomas Vermaelen, Kevin De Bruyne, Vincent Kompany, Mousa Dembele, Kevin Mirallas,Simon Mignolet, on loan Chelsea star to Athletico Madrid Thibaut Courtois and many more.

Marouane Fellaini commenting on it said that "Everyone’s playing in England and that’s allowed us to set our sights high."

Out of all the foreign nations represented in the Premier League, only Spain has a larger contingent of players than Belgium’s 18, and the effect that playing in the English top flight has had on Marc Wilmots’ charges echoes the positive influence that Serie A once had on France’s national team who were crowned the World Champions in 1998 and followed it up by the Euro 2000.

The Belgians would be looking to better their fourth place finish in the 1986 World Cup. Certainly with the talent that Marc Wilmot possesses I won’t be surprised if he actually goes ahead and creates history in the Samba lands.