Roberto Martinez believes Belgium's players can handle the expectations of a potentially legacy-defining tournament as they prepare to open their Euro 2020 campaign against Russia in St Petersburg.
The Red Devils sit atop FIFA's world rankings, a position to which a lavishly gifted squad have become accustomed over the recent past.
However, an improvement upon their third-placed finish at the 2018 World Cup will be required to make good on their incredible promise.
Until that run under Martinez, quarter-final exits at Brazil 2014 and Euro 2016 went down as disappointments for the generation of Romelu Lukaku, Eden Hazard and Kevin De Bruyne, the latter of whom will sit out the Group A opener alongside Axel Witsel.
"I'm sure that the last three years, when the team reaches the level of continuity and consistency that it's showed in the world rankings there is more expectation," Martinez told a pre-match news conference. "There are more neutral fans who follow the team.
"But that doesn't change anything for us. You grow from expectation within the team. The difficulty is the team we have in front of us. I don't think this team will suffer because of expectation."
Krestovsky Stadium was the scene of Belgium's narrow World Cup semi-final loss to France and their win over England in the third-place match three years ago.
A partisan crowd means Martinez expects a different feel this time around.
"There are no secrets between the two teams. We know Russia really well, as they know us really well," he added.
"We are in a magnificent stadium where there will be over 30,000 Russia fans. That's an element we have to overcome in this game."
PLAYERS TO WATCH
Belgium – Romelu Lukaku
Lukaku re-established his reputation as one of the premier strikers in world football by firing Inter to Serie A glory this season. His 35 goal involvements (24 goals, 11 assists) were more than any other player managed in Italy's top-flight and he is very much in the Golden Boot conversation. Lukaku's capacity to create as well as score also bodes well in the absence of De Bruyne, as the Manchester City playmaker continues his recovery from facial injuries sustained during the Champions League final.
Russia – Artem Dzyuba
Russia have a powerhouse striker of their own in cult hero Dzyuba. An outspoken character, he was banished from international duty for a year before returning with three goals in a run to the World Cup quarter-finals on home soil in 2018.
The surfacing of an explicit video featuring Dzyuba threatened to derail him once again earlier this season, but he heads into Euro 2020 as captain of his country and their main threat after 20 league goals for Zenit – the second successive campaign he has finished as top scorer in the Russian Premier League. Only England's Harry Kane (17) was directly involved in more goals during qualification than Dzyuba (14 – nine goals, five assists).
KEY OPTA FACTS
- Belgium were one of only two teams – alongside Italy – to win all of their games in the Euro 2020 qualifying campaign (10/10). They also scored more goals than any other team (40) while setting the joint-best defensive record of three goals conceded.
- No player delivered more assists than Eden Hazard in the Euro 2020 qualifiers, with all seven of those coming from open play. He was also the joint-top assist provider at Euro 2016 (4, level with Aaron Ramsey).
- Russia are winless in their last five matches at the European Championship (D2 L3), since a 4-1 win against Czech Republic in June 2012.
- Thibaut Courtois conceded an average of 0.74 goals per game in LaLiga in 2020-21 (28 in 38 appearances), the lowest ratio for a Real Madrid goalkeeper playing every match of the same top-flight season since Opta began collecting this data in 2005-06.
- Aleksandr Golovin was directly involved in 14 goals in 21 games in Ligue 1 in 2020-21 (five goals, nine assists). Only Andrey Arshavin (six goals, 11 assists with Arsenal in 2010-11) has had more goal involvements among Russian players in the top-five European leagues over the past 15 seasons. Monaco won 41 per cent of their league games without Golovin on the pitch this season, winning 81 per cent when he was involved.
Leon Bailey's injury update emerges with surgery a possibility
Aston Villa winger Leon Bailey could be ruled out for over 10 weeks due to a hamstring injury picked up recently.
This according to injury expert Dr. Rajpal Brar, who explained the best and worst-case scenarios for the Jamaican international, as he pointed out that surgery could also be on the cards.
Manager Unai Emery was reluctant to put a timeline on Bailey’s return, and Dr. Brar, a physical therapist and sports scientist, agreed as he explained that the 27-year-old’s return will be determined based on the extent of the injury.
“His return timeline remains TBD, so that leads me to believe it’s not just a low Grade 0 or 1 injury, which would be the best-case scenario. The worst case would be a Grade 4 hamstring rupture, which means over 10 weeks out depending on if surgery is needed or not, and that possibility cannot be ruled out yet,” Dr. Brar told Villa News.
“One confounding variable with Bailey is that he’s a high-pace player, which puts more stress on the hamstrings, so you have to make sure he can handle those demands before being reintroduced,” he added.
Arsenal 1-0 Rosenborg: Maanum strike ensures Champions League progression
Frida Maanum's first-half strike ensured Arsenal progressed to the second round of Women's Champions League qualifying after a 1-0 win over Rosenborg.
Maanum netted the only goal of the game in the 19th minute after Caitlin Foord saw her cross spilled by Rugile Rulyte, with Maanum on hand to finish from close range.
The Gunners could have made the encounter more comfortable as Alessia Russo's header came back off the crossbar to conclude a dominant first half.
Arsenal struck the woodwork a further two times after the interval, through Russo and Kyra Cooney-Cross, with Leah Williamson also seeing her header cleared off the line.
But Jonas Eidevall's side were able to restrict their opponents to very little, with the hosts ending the contest with 30 shots, though only five of those were on target.
Arsenal go through to the next stage of the next stage of the competition, which is a knockout tie played across two legs.
Netherlands 5-2 Bosnia-Herzegovina: Zirkzee enjoys dream full debut
Joshua Zirkzee marked his first Netherlands start with a goal and an assist as Ronald Koeman's side kicked off their Nations League campaign with a 5-2 win over Bosnia-Herzegovina.
The Manchester United forward opened the scoring early on at the Philips Stadion.
A quiet start to proceedings burst into life in the 13th minute as Simons' deflected effort dropped kindly for Zirkzee, who nodded the ball beyond Nikola Vasilj.
But with their second shot on target, Bosnia snatched an equaliser after Denis Huseinbasic's defence-splitting pass picked out Ermedin Demirovic, who finished smartly.
Teed up by Zirkzee, Tijjani Reijnders restored the hosts' advantage before teeing up Cody Gakpo, who maintained the goalscoring form he displayed at Euro 2024.
Bosnia provided a nervy finish to proceedings after Edin Dzeko neatly poked the ball beyond Bart Verbruggen, only for Wout Weghorst and Xavi Simons to seal the win in the closing stages.
Data Debrief: Gen Z(irkzee)
Having only held a one-goal advantage until the 88th minute, the scoreline eventually reflected the Netherlands' dominance in Eindhoven.
Koeman's side generated an expected goals (xG) total of 4.09, registering 28 shots, nine of which were on target, compared to their opponents' four and three.
Zirkzee, meanwhile, became the fourth player after Klaas Jan Huntelaar, Bas Dost and Vincent Janssen to contribute a goal and assist on their starting debut for the Netherlands.
It was also the first Netherlands game with three players representing the same non-Dutch club side (Virgil van Dijk, Ryan Gravenberch and Gakpo for Liverpool) since November 2013 (Michel Vorm, Dwight Tiendalli and Jonathan de Guzman for Swansea City against China).
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