More than eight months later, national team football returns. The coronavirus prevented the March window and the Eurocup this summer, and now it's time to resume the competitions. This is how the Nations League, for Roberto Martínez's Belgium (No. 1 in the FIFA Ranking) on September 5 and 8, against Denmark and Iceland, away and at home, respectively. The Spanish coach finds the first duel particularly interesting, as the Danes are also waiting for them in the group stage of the European Championship.
Roberto Martínez has announced the list for these first two days of the League of Nations, composed of 29 players. In it, the presence of the two Madridistas, Courtois and Hazard, stands out. captain of the Belgian Red Devils. It will accompany you from Spain's rojiblanco Yannick Carrasco. These are some of the outstanding names of a template that has the Alderweireld, Witsel, Tielemans, De Bruyne, Thorgan Hazard, Mertens or Lukaku.
The absences of other Belgian historical figures such as Vermaelen, Batshuayi and Benteke, the three included in the previous citation, in November. The center-back, in fact, started against Russia, on a night in which the Chelsea attacker had 13 minutes. Benteke, for his part, scored a double against Cyprus. Roberto Martínez explained it like this: “Batshuayi and Benteke will not be there because we have had direct contact with their clubs and it turned out that it was better that they did not travel nor will they leave their training ground. It is not a technical decision. Benteke comes into our plans and Batshuayi is having a difficult season, but he has a lot of credit for what he did here before. (…). With Vermaelen we are still checking the situation with the Japanese government. If the paperwork is done, he will be with us. “
The other side of the coin is starred by first-timers in a call: Jérémy Doku, 18-year-old Anderlecht winger, and his teammate Landry Dimata, forward of 22. He also returns more than a year later Koen Casteels (28), Wolfsburg goal.
CALL OF BELGIUM AGAINST DENMARK AND ICELAND
Goalkeepers: Koen Casteels (Wolfsburg), Thibaut Courtois (Real Madrid), Simon Mignolet (Bruges) and Hendrik van Crombrugge (Anderlecht).
Defenses: Toby Alderweireld (Tottenham), Dedryck Boyata (Hertha from Berlin), Elias Cobbaut (Anderlecht), Jason Denayer (Olympique from Lyon), Leander Dendoncker (Wolverhampton), Brandon Mechele (Bruges) and Jan Vertonghen (Benfica).
Laneways: Yannick Carrasco (Atlético de Madrid), Timothy Castagne (Atalanta), Nacer Chadli (Monaco), Thorgan Hazard (Borussia Dortmund) and Thomas Meunier (Borussia Dortmund).
Midfielders: Kevin de Bruyne (Manchester City), Dennis Praet (Leicester), Youri Tielemans (Leicester), Hans Vanaken (Bruges) and Axel Witsel (Borussia Dortmund).
Wingers and midfielders: Jeremy Doku (Anderlecht), Eden Hazard (Real Madrid), Dries Mertens (Naples), Divock Origi (Liverpool), Leandro Trossard (Brighton) and Yari Verschaeren (Anderlecht).
Forwards: Landry Dimata (Anderlecht) and Romelu Lukaku (Inter Milan).