Ireland and Belgium neutralize each other in Dublin
This Saturday afternoon of international break offered a meeting between Ireland and Belgium at the Aviva Stadium in Dublin. The Irish will not be making their trip to Qatar at the end of the year after finishing behind Serbia and Portugal in their qualifying group, the fault of a poor start to the campaign. Belgium, for their part, will obviously be in Qatar, after finishing first in their group ahead of Wales. This is the first match in 2022 for the two selections and their last confrontation ended in a final victory (3-0) for Eden Hazard’s partners during the group stage of Euro 2016. The Irish who were celebrating the centenary of their federation, the Belgians lined up a “new generation” team, with a Youri Tielemans captain alongside many young people like Charles de Ketelaere or Alexis Saelmaekers.
On the Irish side, Liverpool goalkeeper Caoimhin Kelleher, West Bromwich center forward Callum Wilson and Tottenham side Matt Doherty were starters. During a rather balanced meeting, the Belgians opened the scoring quickly with a goal from former Marseille player Michy Batshuayi (12th) before being joined in the score on a goal by Chiedozie Ogbene (36th), a League player One (3rd English div.). The Red Devils then represented the advantage in the second half thanks to a goal from Club Brugge striker Hans Vanaken (59th) but Ireland did not admit defeat and snatched the draw in the last minutes on a goal from ‘Alan Browne (86th). To complete their international break, Ireland will face Lithuania on Tuesday while Belgium host Burkina Faso.