Belgium brilliant under Martinez and five things we learned from the European qualifiers

Peter Staunton

Belgium brilliant under Martinez and five things we learned from the European qualifiers image

Three games, three wins, 13 goals scored and none conceded. It’s fair to say that Roberto Martinez has had a good start to life as the new Belgium manager.

Tougher tests lie in wait as the Belgians have been matched point-for-point by a resurgent Greece at the top of Group H but Martinez’s road to redemption following his sacking by Everton has begun well.

Belgium, smarting from a poor show at Euro 2016, dispensed with Marc Wilmots in favor of a coach with a broader tactical pallet and the Catalan has done well to coax strong performances from his captain Eden Hazard among others.

Even without skipper Vincent Kompany and the influential playmaker Kevin de Bruyne due to injury, Belgium had too much power and class for Bosnia and Herzegovina last week and Gibraltar on Monday night following a win away at Cyprus on matchday one.

Romelu Lukaku was rested against the part-timers with replacement Christian Benteke scoring a hat-trick including a world-record breaking goal timed after just seven seconds of play.

It was the performance against Bosnia however that should give Belgian fans encouragement. Edin Dzeko’s side were simply blown away by a vastly superior Belgium playing to its collective potential with Dries Mertens among the best players on the night in the 4-0 win.


PORTUGAL FINALLY DISCOVERS A GENUINE STRIKER

European champion Portugal realigned its World Cup qualification campaign after losing to Switzerland in its first fixture with a pair of 6-0 wins against Andorra and the Faroe Islands.

Captain Cristiano Ronaldo was back in action after recovering from the injury which curtailed his involvement in the Euro 2016 final and the Real Madrid man netted five times across the two fixtures.

Just behind him in the goal scoring stakes, however, was the latest Portuguese hotshot to roll off the Porto production line.

Andre Silva became the youngest player to score a hat trick for the national team - at the age of 20 and 340 days – with his treble in Torshavn. That followed a goal on his second Portugal start a few days earlier against the Andorrans.

Coach Fernando Santos looks to have finally laid his hands on a genuine goal scoring center forward to relieve the burden on Ronaldo. Silva forced his way into the Porto squad at the end of last season and is now an undisputed starter at club level with five goals in seven league games so far this season.

His form has been rewarded with a fresh five-year contract with a buyout clause set at 60 million euros ($66M).

Silva is just one of a number of young Portugal starts emerging with the likes of Renato Sanches, Raphael Guerreiro, Andre Gomes and Joao Mario now on the books of some of Europe’s strongest clubs. 


KARMA STRIKES NAPOLI AS MILIK NOT HIGUAIN SUFFERS INJURY

You might recall that when Gonzalo Higuain left Napoli to join Juventus for a 90 million euro ($99M) fee, a pizzeria in Naples was offering €1 Margherita pizzas in the event of the Argentine suffering a big injury with his new club.

Believers in karma will be having a field day then with the news that it was Higuain’s replacement – Arek Milik – who has suffered a potentially season-ending injury.

Signed for around €35m from Ajax over the summer, the Pole had confounded expectations in his first few games with Napoli, scoring seven goals in nine games. Many thought that the 22-year-old had neither the speed nor technique to replace Higuain but Milik has made light of those assertions.

What a devastating blow it is for the club and the player, then, that Milik has suffered a total rupture of a knee ligament against Denmark, which means he will be out for six months at least.

Robert Lewandowski – inevitably – made sure Poland did not miss Milik too much on the night with yet another hat trick but it is Napoli who will have to endure most misery.

The Italian side has already reportedly turned to the free agent list – headed by Emmanuel Adebayor – for a replacement to carry it through until the January transfer window. 


EXTRAORDINARY TADIC REBORN FOR SERBIA

Serbia has scored eight goals in its three Group D qualifiers so far. Dusan Tadic has scored three of them and assisted the other five.

It has been quite a remarkable return to international form for a man who was scapegoated as one of the reasons behind Serbia’s failure to qualify for Euro 2016. Tadic was ready to walk away from the national team set-up after being left out of the March friendlies against Poland and Estonia by previous manager Radovan Curcic.

However, he was recalled by new man Slavoljub Muslin, gaining increasing prominence now during Serbia’s so-far-so-good qualification campaign.

After drawing with Ireland on matchday one Serbia put together a sequence of two wins in this international window. It beat Moldova last week and Austria in sensational fashion on Sunday night in Belgrade.

Tadic was at the fore in both matches in a revamped forward line alongside Filip Kostic and Aleksander Mitrovic.

The Southampton man’s form has reportedly caught the interest of AC Milan, who could be ready to spend as much as 20 million euros ($22M) to pick up one of the most in-form playmakers in the world.


PELLE TANTRUM OPENS DOOR FOR BALOTELLI

Steadily Mario Balotelli is rebuilding his career with five goals in his first three league games for Nice in France. While it was no surprise for the former Inter striker to be left out of Giampiero Ventura’s Italy squad for the recent World Cup qualifiers against Spain and Macedonia, the day that Balotelli is back in the colors of la Nazionale is surely closer than ever.

The 26-year-old was left out of the Euro 2016 squad by Antonio Conte with the harmony in the group being of the utmost importance. Ventura did not rock the boat in that respect, choosing to instead trust the China-based forward Griaziano Pelle to lead his line for the first World Cup qualifiers.

There was some irony to the fact that the 31-year-old was dismissed by Ventura from the Italy squad over a disciplinary issue. After being substituted in the 1-1 draw with Spain, Pelle refused to shake his coach’s hand before muttering his discontentment. A swift axing – and contrite apology – followed.

Ciro Immobile was handed the shirt for the game away at Macedonia and responded with a well-taken brace while Pelle counted the cost of his actions.

Next up for Italy is a qualifier against Liechtenstein plus a friendly against Germany in November. Should Balotelli keep his form up and his head down, it would be reasonably be expected that he would regain his place at the expense of Pelle.

Peter Staunton

Peter Staunton Photo

Peter Staunton is Goal’s Chief Correspondent, responsible for news, analysis and interviews from all angles of the game, primarily covering the big stories in the Premier League and Champions League. He has been part of the Goal team since 2008 and has been to multiple World Cups, European Championships and Champions League finals as well as interviewing some of the game’s biggest names, including Jose Mourinho, Carlo Ancelotti and Pele. He has appeared as a guest and analyst on outlets such as BBC Radio 5 Live, the Totally Football Show, CNN, TalkSPORT and RT.