Domenico’s Devils off to a perfect start
Domenico Tedesco’s debut as the manager of the Belgian Red Devils has been a great success as he led the national football squad to victory against both Sweden and Germany.
The era of Tedesco began with an important face-off as part of the Euro 2024 qualifiers. Tedesco’s starting 11 against Sweden were a mix of national squad veterans like Courtois, Vertonghen, De Bruyne and Lukaku, and newer names like Amadou Onana, Dodi Lukebakio and Johan Bakayoko.
Belgium, in a fresh 4-4-2 system, defended its nets, but not only that: ‘Big Rom’ Lukaku pulled a hattrick, leaving the score on the board a decisive 0-3.
The big question, then, was whether Tedesco’s tour de force would carry on as Belgium faced Germany, a team against which it hadn’t won since 1954.
That statistic didn’t stop them from a display of hunger and skill. Six minutes in, household name Yannick Carrasco put 0-1 on the scoreboard, but fans couldn’t blink: just three minutes later, Romelu Lukaku made the German nets shake again: 0-2.
Game over for the Germans? Right before half-time, an unfortunate case of hands by the aforementioned Lukaku meant a penalty for Germany. Füllkrug did not hesitate, and goalkeeper Koen Casteels could not prevent the 1-2.
But the story doesn’t end there: in an equally intense second half – which, by the way, saw Tedesco using up his six substitutions --, both teams scored once again, with brand new captain Kevin De Bruyne ensuring the 1-3, and Serge Gnabry putting the final score of 2-3 on the board.
Tedesco is the first coach since René Vandereycken in 2006 to lead the squad to two consecutive victories in their first two matches. We salute him for it, and may this delicious display of football continue in future games!