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Raising the game
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Until recently the Belgian footballing scene wasn’t known for grabbing headlines, but that may all be about to change. Matt Barker gets to grips with Belgium’s new breed of talent
Every footballing country has its Golden Age. For Belgium, it stretched from the early ‘70s to the late ‘80s when Brussels team Anderlecht, with the legendary Paul van Himst on the manager’s bench, established itself as one of the great European clubs. The national team enjoyed regular appearances on the game’s global stage thanks to players such as Eric Gerets, goalkeeper Jean-Marie Pfaff and (later in the ‘80s) the great Enzo Scifo.
Since then, the Belgian game has found itself increasingly in the doldrums, reaching its nadir in 1997 when the once proud RSC Anderlecht found itself banned for a year from European competition, after it was discovered that the club had bribed a referee before a UEFA Cup semi-final against England’s Nottingham Forest back in 1984. Meanwhile, the national team drifted aimlessly through qualifying campaigns, rarely shining in tournaments.
Mention Belgian football to most people now and they’ll doubtless think of Jean-Marc Bosman, a fairly anonymous player who, blocked by his then club Liège from a move to French side Dunkerque, took his case to the European Court of Justice. In 1995 Bosman won his claim for restraint of trade, with the courts ruling that Liège had restricted his movements as a worker within the European Union, subsequently giving his name to an infamous ruling that was to change the modern game forever.
Recent years, though, have seen a new mood of optimism and youthful vigour return to the Belgian game. New training academies and a change in coaching methods are beginning to bear fruit, with the national under-21 side reaching the semi-finals at the Beijing Olympics, beating a strong Italian side on its way before losing to Nigeria. And both Standard de Liège and Club Brugge have given impressive performances in European club competitions – the former even came within minutes of knocking Liverpool out of this season’s Champions League.
A new breed of talented youngsters like Vincent Kompany, Marouane Fellaini, Steven Defour and Jonathan Blondel are suddenly in demand with some of Europe’s biggest names. Both Kompany and Fellaini are now plying their trades in the cash-rich Premier League in England – Kompany with Manchester City, Fellaini at Everton.
Last season, Standard de Liège won the Belgian Jupiler Pro League title after a barren 25-year spell with a team that cost a total of just €6m. Having nearly gone bankrupt a decade ago, ‘Les Rouches’ (‘The Reds’ – the team colours) opted for a new philosophy: to plan for the long term and restructure its training and academy facilities rather than try to keep up with big-spending clubs elsewhere. Opened in May 2007, the club’s impressive Académie Robert Louis-Dreyfus, where players as young as six are put through their paces, cost €18 million and includes five grass pitches, gyms, a dormitory for school-age players (most of the youngsters on Standard’s books attend local boarding schools, with the dormitory acting as a stand-by out of term time) and a luxury 30-room hotel.
One of Europe’s finest academies of its kind, it has earned a few admiring glances and curious visitors from the continent’s biggest footballing names. Club director of sport (and former coach)
Dominique D’Onoforio explains: “The club decided two years ago to put its faith in the youngsters, so we had to change the way we work and create this academy. The team that won the league this year is a great illustration of this, as the average age is 22.
“The quality of the training is much more important than the results, but we make sure we teach them a winning mentality. We brought in Tomislav Ivic to look after the under-16s, 17s, 19s and 21s. He supervises those four age groups to make sure they all have the same behaviour and mentality. Before, we always struggled to attract youngsters, but now it’s the other way round. We have lots of people contacting us.”
Patience is key to all this. Standard is reluctant to set itself any great targets when it comes to bringing youngsters through, but one good player sold on to a top European club could pay for all that investment in the academy at a stroke. Fellaini signed for English side Everton for €20m last summer, pretty much cancelling out the cost of the Robert Louis-Dreyfus complex.
And there’s the rub: what Standard and other Belgian clubs are doing may be very good news for the national team, but at club level the danger will always remain that the best players will soon opt to head overseas to find fame and fortune. Tying youngsters to long-term contracts (with high-priced buy-out clauses) is one option but that, of course, can be expensive.
A new television-rights deal should help, but Belgium’s domestic game faces a tricky balancing act over the coming decade. However, its new-found faith in its youth will surely give it a useful head start on its similarly sized European neighbours.
Anthony Vanden Borre
Club Genoa
Age 21
Position Defender
Having won two titles with Anderlecht, Vanden Borre’s positional sense and clean tackling was soon noticed o ver in Italy, where they know a thing or two about defending. After an initial season at Fiorentina, he’s now at Genoa.
Eden Hazard
Club Lille
Age 17
Position Midfielder
Having impressed during the 2007 UEFA Under-17 Football Championship, French side Lille signed this attacking midfielder before anyone else could make a move. Scored his first goal in le championnat in September. Huge potential.
Steven Defour
Club Standard de Liège
Age 20
Position Midfielder
The country’s golden boy, Defour won the 2007 Belgian Player of the Year award and has been at the core of Liège’s recent rebirth. Constantly linked with a big move overseas, the English Premier League being a likely destination.
Moussa Dembélé
Club AZ Alkmaar
Age 21
Position Striker
Martens’ strike partner at AZ, this ex-Germinal Beerschot youngste r has already won seven international caps, scoring once. He has just signed a contract extension with the Dutch club that will keep him there until 2
Tom De Mul
Club Sevilla
Age 22
Position Midfielder
From the youth ranks at Germinal Beerschot, De Mul was snapped up by Dutch giant Ajax, but left for sunny Spain last summer. With jus t one international cap, playing in a strong Sevilla side in La Liga can only add to his game.
Vincent Kompany
Club Manchester City
Age 22
Position Defender
A product of Anderlecht’s youth academy, Kompany joined Manchester City last summer after two seasons in Germany with Hamburg. His tough-tackling style and gritty attitude have quickly won over the City fans.
Marouane Fellaini
Club Everton
Age 20
Position Midfielder
A lynchpin in Liège’s title-winning team last season, Fellaini moved to Everton last summer for a club record fee. He appears suitably unfazed by the price tag and is thriving in the Premier League’s quick-fire, no-holds-barred atmosphere.
Maarten Martens
Club AZ Alkmaar
Age 24
Position Striker
Another Anderlecht old boy, Martens has been a key factor in Dutch club AZ’s impressive display in the UEFA Cup, under the shrewd guidance of coach Louis van Gaal. Yet to catch fire for the Belgian national team, he remains full of potential.
NL Hoop doet leven
Elk voetballand kent Gouden Tijden. Voor België was dat de periode van het begin van de jaren ’70 tot eind jaren ’80, wanneer Anderlecht deel uitmaakte van het selecte clubje van Europese grootheden. Sindsdien is het succes flink verbleekt en ging het steeds verder bergaf met een ultiem dieptepunt in 1997. Dat jaar werd het eens zo fiere Anderlecht geweerd uit alle Europese competities toen bleek dat de club in 1984 een scheidsrechter had omgekocht voor de halve finale van de UEFA Cup.
De laatste jaren krijgen optimisme en jeugdig enthousiasme opnieuw de bovenhand in het Belgisch voetbal. Nieuwe opleidingcentra zoals het Academie Robert Louis-Dreyfus in Luik (t.w.v. € 18m) en andere manieren van coaching beginnen stilaan hun vruchten af te werpen. De Jonge Duivels, onze nationale ploeg voor -21-jarigen, bereikte de halve finale op de Olympische Spelen in Peking, en zowel Standard als Club Brugge gooien hoge ogen in de Europese competitie voor clubs; Standard slaagde er zelfs ei zo na in Liverpool uit de Champions League te kegelen dit jaar.
België heeft de hoop in zijn jeugd teruggevonden, wat het een nuttig stapje voor geeft op onze Europese voetbalburen van vergelijkbaar kaliber.
De nieuwe lichting Belgische voetballers.
Steven Defour
Club Standard Liege
Leeftijd 20
Positie Middenvelder
Vincent Kompany
Club Manchester City
Leeftijd 22
Positie Verdediger
Maarten Martens
Club AZ Alkmaar
Leeftijd 24
Positie Aanvaller
Tom De Mul
Club Sevilla
Leeftijd 22
Positie Middenvelder
Anthony Vanden Borre
Club Genoa
Leeftijd 23
Positie Verdediger
Eden Hazard
Club Lille
Leeftijd 17
Positie Middenvelder
Marouane Fellaini
Club Everton
Leeftijd 20
Positie Middenvelder
Moussa Dembele
Club AZ Alkmaar
Leeftijd 21
Positie Aanvaller
FR Relever le jeu
Chaque patrie de football connaît son Age d’Or. Pour la Belgique, c’est une période qui s’est étendue du début des années 70 jusqu’à la fin de la décennie 80, lorsque Anderlecht s’est imposé comme l’un des plus grands clubs européens. Depuis cette époque, leur jeu a progressivement décliné pour se retrouver en pleine dépression, atteignant le fond du panier en 1997. Cette année-là, le fier Anderlecht d’autrefois s’est retrouvé banni de la compétition européenne pour un an, après que l’on ait découvert que le club avait acheté un arbitre, avant la Coupe en semi-finale de l’UEFA en 1984.
Toutefois, depuis ces dernières années, le club assiste à un renouveau d’ optimisme et à une nouvelle vigueur sur le terrain belge. De nouvelles académies de formation, comme l’Académie Robert Louis-Dreyfus à Liège (projet de €18m), et un changement des méthodes de coaching commencent à porter leurs fruits. On citera l’arrivée de l’équipe nationale en semi-finale lors de la Coupe des moins de 21 ans aux Jeux Olympiques de Pékin et l’impression faite par le Standard Liège et le Club de Bruges dans les compétitions des clubs européens ; à quelques minutes de la fin de match, il s’en est fallu de peu que le Standard n’écarte Liverpool de la victoire, lors de la dernière saison des Champions League.
La nouvelle confiance retrouvée de la Belgique dans sa jeunesse lui donne un sérieux avantage sur ses voisin européens de même calibre.
Steven Defour
Club Standard Liège
Age 20
Position Milieu de
terrain
Vincent Kompany
Club Manchester City
Age 22
Position Défenseur
Maarten Martens
Club AZ Alkmaar
Age 24
Position Buteur
Tom De Mul
Club Sevilla
Age 22
Position Milieu de
terrain
Anthony Vanden Borre
Club Genoa
Age 23
Position Défenseur
Eden Hazard
Club Lille
Age 17
Position Milieu de
terrain
Marouane Fellaini
Club Everton
Age 20
Position Milieu de
terrain
Moussa Dembele
Club AZ Alkmaar
Age 21
Position Buteur
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