The early elimination of Belgium from the World Cup in Qatar, and the consequent departure of the Spanish Roberto Martínez from the bench, has sparked a debate about who should now lead the Red Devils, with names likeor Vincent Kompany, Michel Preud’Homme and Thierry Henry in the pools and the Euro 2024 in the peephole.
One of the options that sounds loudest among the local press is to entrust the technical direction of Belgium to the duo formed by Thierry Henry and Thomas Vermaelen.
Both have accompanied Martínez during part of the six years that he has directed the Red Devils, the first since 2016 -except when he was at Monaco as coach between 2018 and 2019- and the second as one of the references in defense until his retirement in January 2022, when he automatically became the technical team of the national team.
One of the weaknesses of that option is that Vermaelen has no experience as a first coach and Henry did not do well at Monaco when he took on that role.
Another of the names that the Belgian press has repeatedly cited since the elimination in the group stage is that of Vincent Kompany, a former defender of the national team who, after eleven seasons at Manchester City, returned to the club of his origins, Anderlecht, first as player-coach and then only as a coach (2019-2022).
But, like Henry, Kompany also fell short of expectations and left the Brussels club last summer.
Philippe Clément, former Belgian player and current coach of Monaco, also appears in the pools, after passing through the bench of Bruges, Genk and SK Beveren.
At Brugge, Clément spent four seasons as deputy to Michel Preud’Homme, the celebrated Belgian goalkeeper of the 1990s who is also in the hype for potential coaches and has two decades of experience managing clubs like Brugge and FC Barcelona. Standard de Liège in Belgium, FC Twente in the Netherlands or Al-Shabab from Saudi Arabia.
The Belgian sports media also speculate about the possibility that the chosen one is Hein Vanhaezebrouck, current coach of Belgian La Gantoise. that, before the World Cup, he had suggested a revolutionary way of choosing the coach.
“In a World Cup you have the best players. The best referees too. But not the best coaches”, said the coach.
“There is a reason for this. After all, the best coaches work in clubs. Wouldn’t it be possible for countries to hire national coaches for a month? Surely then you would have the best World Cup with the best coaches,” said Vanhaezebrouck, whose team is fifth in the Belgian league.
Also read:
The Brazilian team sends a message of support to Pelé after the victory against Korea in the Qatar 2022 World Cup
Qatar 2022: Brazil thrashes and has fun with South Korea reaffirming that it wants to win its sixth World Cup
Qatar 2022: The fastest players in the World Cup with speeds exceeding 30 kilometers per hour