On March 27th, Beijing time, Belgium will face England in a friendly match at Wembley. Roberto Martínez, the head coach of the Belgian national team, attended the pre-match press conference.
Tedesco first addressed the team’s performance in the previous friendly against Ireland, stating, “The last result won’t hold us back. An unsatisfactory match can motivate us to move forward. It shows we still have room for improvement. Beating England would give us even more confidence. Sometimes we need to speed up the game, but at other times, we need to know how to stay patient. Devyn is making his national team debut, Fase has never played as a left center-back, and Vermaelen hasn’t had much experience in major tournaments.”
Tedesco continued, “I’m very satisfied with the current atmosphere in the team. There’s no pressure. After this friendly, the players will be apart for some days, and I hope this positive vibe carries on.”
Speaking about the opponent, England, he said, “England has an abundance of talent, even with some injuries. They still pose a threat across the board. Lukaku has been training with the team for four days, so he has a chance to play, possibly even starting. He’s crucial to our team, difficult to stop due to his ability to hold onto the ball with his body. Even though he had an unhappy spell in England, I don’t think he’ll have a revenge mentality in this match.“
“Casteels missed a few training sessions due to a shoulder issue. We don’t want to take any risks, so it’s better for him to recover gradually,” he added.
Lastly, regarding the potential involvement of Debast and Tayat, Tedesco replied, “It’s possible. Debast and Vertonghen have often played together at Anderlecht, and there’s an opportunity for that here in the national team. Tayat is ready, and Mangala could have featured in the last game, but for safety reasons, the team decided to postpone their debuts.”
