Republic of Ireland vs Belgium | Opposition Preview

Republic of Ireland vs Belgium | Opposition Preview

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Catch the in-depth preview of the upcoming clash between the Republic of Ireland and Belgium in this insightful video. Expert analysis from scott Coyne from the Belgian Football Podcast, squad insights, and player predictions await as we delve into what promises to be an electrifying match. Don’t miss out on the latest updates and commentary from the world of football!

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Hello and welcome back to all our sport this is the opposition preview it’s Republic of Oreland versus Belgium Saturday 5:00 pm Irish time and uh yeah John OA in and is interim manager for the Republic of Ireland against a very good Belgian so I’m joined by Scott coin

From the Belgian football podcast how are you today Scott I’m great Paul how are you it’s nice to be back good yeah I’m just fresh back from the press conference there John O in good mood there and uh I’m sure you heard a little snippet there as

I hello and welcome back to all our Sports this is the opposition preview it’s Republic of Ireland versus Belgium Saturday 5:00 P p.m Irish time and uh yeah John OA in and is interim manager for the Republic of Ireland against a very good Belgian side I’m hello and

Welcome back to all our sport this is the opposition preview it’s Republic of Ireland versus Belgium Saturday 5:00 p.m. Irish time and uh yeah John OA in and is interim manager for the Republic of Ireland against a very good Belgian side I’m joined by Scott coin from the

Belgian football podcast how are you today Scott I’m great Paul how are you it’s nice to be back good yeah I’m just fresh back from the press conference there John O in in good mood there and uh I’m sure you heard a little snippet there as I was editing the uh the press

Conference there he seems to be um in good form going into and there seems to be a bit of a kind of positive air around the uh the camp at the moment which is good to see because it kind of went a bit stale towards the end under

Stepen Kenny uh just in regard results it wasn’t that toxic but it was just kind of more of a results kind of um sort of thing but uh yeah talk to me about I suppose Belgium we’re here to kind of get the low down from the

Belgian uh point of view no better man than yourself obviously you You’ have kind of um engrained yourself within the Belgian football kind of scene so you know everything you’re right Belgian football expert if you rather and uh yeah I suppose we know few players in

The squad but more so kind of um from your point of view who are you excited to see are you bringing in some fresh faces in this window that maybe weren’t in before like the Irish team are well the the squad was kind of

Confirmed H at the end of uh last week H they had a rather nice press conference at the the the her Museum which for tinon fans will be a place of pilgrimage um just outside Brussels um and the the president conference kind of confirmed a number of things one of them was the

Squad was pretty much exactly as we expected with one outlier um they have included um con dewinter who is a quite exciting 21 year year old Center back who’s playing his football at Jena at the moment he’s been doing pretty well for a little while now um and Dominico

Tadesco um who’s obviously taking over from Roberto Martinez um has been out to see the winter a couple of times um and this is obviously his last opportunity really to have a kind of close look at him before the Euros um so con de Winter’s a player who may depending on

Circumstances squeak into that final Euros scad in in a number of weeks um so the next few days is going to be very important for him I think um because it’s his last chance to kind of make that impression um other than Cony dewinter the squad was pretty much

Exactly as expected no real surprises um in there um lots of people the the Ireland fans will know in fact there’s eight players in that Squad who play their Club football in England um you know which is which is a lot you know castan fast tians Onana trossard dku

Kinsky and Sals all play the club football in England at the moment so there’ll be a lot of faces in there that the Ireland fans are are familiar with one player who I’ve really enjoyed watching during the qualification campaign um for the Euros for for for

Belgium is do lucab bakio who plays his club for football in Seva at the moment he’s he’s been really good during qualifying two goals and three assists in in his five games and um he just looks like a player who enjoys playing International Football really exciting forward big chance Creator and starting

To to produce some output himself as well now obviously which is important um and he I think will be a key part of that front three three now for for Belgium yeah probably lucab bakio on the right um and either um dku or trossard on the left with with Lukaku up top um

He’s lak’s out out injured that’s the good news um yeah from an Ireland perspective a couple of big bits of good news um Lukaku is carrying a slight knock he has traveled he’s with a scad but he will not play um in Dublin H they’re saving him up to unleash him

Against England at Wembley on Tuesday evening he will play there um the other Miss um and a massive Miss obviously is Kev de bruyne he’s purposely been left out of of the scad for this game um and the game in Tuesday against England because he’s also um injured um

Everybody knows about Jeremy dku um I mentioned him he’s he’s definitely one to watch out for he’s just gone from strength to strength really and thankfully he’s remained largely injury free he was having problems for a long time but since his move really to to Manchester City he has kicked on in a

Way that we would all want him to um so yeah I mean a lot of these faces are are very well known to people now Belgium are now led by Domino Tesco he took over from Roberto martinz just over a year ago now and has remained undefeated

Since he’s come in they’ve kind of cruised their qualifying for the Euros winning six strong two not losing any uh top scorers um best defense um it’s it’s kind of all Rosy at the moment and what he’s done really well I think is um just renew the squad a little bit there was

An expectation when Martinez left after the World Cup that it was time to kind of start a new cycle if you like and that’s really what’s happened there there’s plenty of experience still in that Squad but we’ve seen some fresh faces come in um and and kind of rise to

The occasion and everyone’s feeling um quite a bit better about themselves at the moment yeah well I think obviously we we played each other I think it was two years ago now and I think that was kind of a warm-up game as well for was it the

World Cup I think it was uh it was kind of one last chance to give Roberto Martinez a look at some players who are going to come in and you know see how they can perform I think Amad do Onan was obviously one of them uh as well I

Think he’ll be probably a key player for you as well is he is he in the squad and fit and I know he’s a couple of knocks at Everton yeah he he is in the squad H I would expect him to to play that’s actually an interesting one that Central

Midfield role as well because there’s a there’s a player in the squad um called Arthur riran um who is a a big Rising Talent 19-year-old midfielder um kind of performs a similar function uh profile wise to to Anana um he’s he’s had a tiny amount of game time has only very

Recently broke into the the national team setup um he’s in the squad as well and you know he he may featured at some point um in the game too but I would expect expect Anana to start I know that the there’s not too many injury worries from a Belgium perspective um Arthur

Tiat Center back um he may not start he’s carrying a slight knock this is where Cony dewinter becomes more important it be interesting to see if he starts instead of Arthur tiat um Orel mangala um is also carrying a knock obviously lukaku’s got his his groin strain so he definitely won’t play um

And the other the other slight injury concern is around Kon castile’s goalkeeper wolburg keeper he’s got a shoulder knock he’s interesting actually because the only real downside to Dominique Tesco’s kind of first 12 months has actually been the big falling out with TBO CA um around the captaincy um and and

Tedesco’s kind of been forced to kind of have a closer look at K castiel’s as the potential new number one or mat Sals at Nottingham Forest so they’ve both started three games each um and and kind of qualifying and nobody really knows yet who the the number one going into

The Euros for Belgium is going to be um if if steals knock takes him out of that game then sales will start so that’s another thing to look out for who might start ill I just lost the last kind of second of there you just said who might start

And just went a little bit funny yeah I I think it’s it’s it’s another thing just to watch out from from a Belgian perspective is is who might start and goal because there’s no Kura um and there will be no Kura for the foreseeable future Testo confirmed

Actually last week as well at his press conference that he won’t be back as long as he’s there and that relationship’s gone now um Dominique kesco actually had his contract renewed last week as well for another two years so um there’ll be no couris for for yeah for a while

Anyway um so yeah the big question around the goalkeeping position is whether it will be K casti or or mattz Sals both for this game and and going into the Euros as well yeah well I think you know you’ve kind of mentioned players there who obviously um have have

Brought experience to the squad the interesting thing about this Irish Squad this time around is just there’s only like two or three actual uh experienced players that are in the squad a lot of the young players now have become experienced because they were literally thrown into the deep end and and had to

Kind of learn on the job I suppose so there’s there’s young players there like Jason Knight and stuff like that who were above 20 caps now and Gavin bazunu and these types um and they’re all kind of playing their um their Club football mainly in um in England but there

Someone who who you might have known through his Belgian football days was uh Jacob Bryan at Mullen and he’s in the he got promoted there and he’s gone on to Leon and you spoke about Jeremy daku who’s who’s gone to strength to strength but I I would look not maybe at the same

Level but Jake has gone has pretty much been an obscure player at Leon to one of the first names on the list I think he was in the league on team of the year so far uh as well um he’s popped up with crucial goals crucial assists and

Obviously big perform performances and I think that he’ll be in lying for a a start against Belgium and I think he deserves it if he does yeah definitely I mean he um he was at um M Beek um in in Belgium who kind of are around the relegation playoffs at

The moment left before before the current season kind of started and and they were really Keen to hold on to him and for those who don’t know kind of Mullen beer actually part of a a multic club network um which is actually owned by John texter who owns Leon where where

Jake is now so in some ways that that was probably the right natural progression for him there was a little bit of a worry at the time that maybe that had come a little bit too soon for him there was a bit of hype around Jake which I think probably was

Justifiable um you know he’s gone to France and he’s actually done very well and kind of shown that he was he he was ready for for that next that next step um M be fans are still very fond of kind of Jake O’Brien um you know understandably and they they’re having a

Tough time at the moment Mullen Beek and I I think they I think they really miss a character a player you know um who has the qualities that that he does they they miss him you know hugely I think um at at the moment another player of

Course in that Ireland Squad um who’ll be very familiar to H Belgian fans generally is um Josh Cullen as well you know had a fabulous time at andle and great great relationship with Vincent company um takes him to to Burnley such a such a clever player um and even

Even if he’s not fit he’s worth having in your squad Josh Cullen just because of the the yeah the atmosphere and the impact he has W with with other players um he’s one of those players who um brings a lot off the pitch as well um

Yeah kind of great great plus to having that Ireland Squad yeah I think it’s it’s going to be so interesting because obviously you have jakay coming in there um for his first cap um you’ve got Mikey Johnson who’s coming in really good form at at West braam from his move from

Celtic give Adam who’s been scoring goals at Celtic um and you’ve got sh doio Benny who’s G well at Luton Town as well is it from an Irish point of view is there anyone that would you know you’re looking at and you kind of going

I don’t fancy faced him like I know Evan Ferguson’s not really been scoring but a lot of um opposition previews had in the past a lot of people seem to fear him but is there anyone because this is the first time in a long time Irish players

Are coming in to an international window off a bit of for and especially their forward players I haven’t even mentioned Sami SM who has like 27 goals in all competitions well you mentioned Adam there I mean he’s I think he’s a he’s a player who could potentially cause

Belgium problems I mean for a long time now the the Belgian defense for well what feels like years probably has been everybody’s biggest worry that there is quality in that defense but when Dominico Tesco took over there was a a real feeling that the defense in particular needed refreshed it needed

Renewed and he has he’s he’s largely done that um he’s he’s doing it in the kind of a gentle transitionary way you know he’s brought in Arthur tiate who I mentioned earlier vout F has now become a regular feature in there um and he’s got the experience still of Veron and

And castana as well so that’s changing but it’s still everybody’s kind of biggest worry um a player like Adida who who the physical side of his game is kind of quite good I think um you know he has a a Mobility about him I think that could cause could cause problems

And he’s been scoring goals for Celtic you know he’s gone there and um you know that’s an environment where you really have to hit the ground running and actually he’s done that um he’s he’s developed a really good relationship with Brendan Rogers and has actually been keeping um you know um kyogo

Fahashi out the side who you know is an extremely talented Japanese Striker um who you know was looked like he was set for a big move um away from from Celtic before Brendan Rogers came back um so it’s been a bit of a surprise I think

That Adam Ed has done so well at Celtic and it’ll be interesting to see how much if any game time he gets um in the game because I I I think he’s a player who could definitely cause the the Belgian defense some problems particularly if he’s given some some Service as well the

Midfield is going to be very important I think in this game um I think Ireland have to try and you know control the Midfield as much as possible to just get a hold in the game and if they don’t do that then you know it could be it could

Be a long evening for them yeah I think he he’ll either start the Belgian game or he’ll start the Swiss game I think he he’ll be in line anyway I think it’s going to be between him himself and Ferguson I don’t see it being a a case

Of the two of them starting and obviously I mentioned Samy smck there who I think I mentioned players who come in kind of fresh off the you know redoff form and we haven’t had that in a long time I think smod being um 27 goals this is his first International window we’ve

Tried to get him in in in the past so I think it’s going to be really interesting from an Irish point of view and I think Irish fans just want to see us have a bit of a go and you know try score a couple of goals if it does end

In the two two draw I think a lot of fans will be happy with that you know what I mean I know look it’s not exactly your a team uh in that regard obviously with with de bruyne and stuff like that H not in the squad but I do think it’s

Still a very strong Belgian Squad and we to get some sort of result I think that you know that builds a bit of positivity there and I think John OA I heard him today speak in and I’ve heard him all week speaking and he just seems to be

Not getting kind of too overall by the by the whole kind of situation and being the Ireland manager and stuff like that and I do think that if a couple of good results go our way that he could actually be sitting in the hot seat come the end of the international window

Going into the summer because there’s talks of a new manager coming in but I do think this is a a chance for the the Irish players and John OA to um you know to give it a bash and if it goes well do does that it’s kind of like

An audition almost I would say yeah absolutely I mean it’s the sort of game where um from an Ireland perspective I mean obviously it’s a free hit but they can go out there and express themselves against you know as you were saying you know a good side I mean the thing about

Belgium actually at the moment is you know I was saying earlier that they’ cruised their qualifying campaign and and tadesco was undefeated um you know in his first year the one thing we don’t know with this Belgium side yet is and it’s because they’ve not been tested is

How good they really are you know qualifying is a very different thing to you know playing a major tournament obviously the psychology and mindset of that is is is very different um and this is a good game I think for both sides really um what Belgium are trying to do

At the moment is set up some fixtures where they do get a little bit more of a test kind of coming into the tournament so they’ve got the game um in Dublin and and then they go to Wembley um next week as well and then after that they’ve got

Games against Montenegro and Luxemburg and they’re you’re Classic you know shooting in a battle game you know just before a tournament to get everybody’s confidence up um but certainly the game in Dublin and the game against England they’ve absolutely been chosen um you know to play against a good level of

Opposition um and that’s something that that Belgium to be honest haven’t really come up against for a while now and you know in qualifying they had Austria Sweden aeran and Estonia in their group and Sweden have have not been uh great for a little while now they’re going through a big transition Austria

Probably gave them their their h stiffest test um under under RAF ranc who’s a brilliant coach um so yeah it’s important that this Belgian side uh plays against you know I think a decent opposition um you know before the tournament a couple of times and we’re

Going to see that here um their their their group at the Euros is actually a very good one as well and not one that I think will particularly test them they’ll be very pleased to have Romania Slovakia and we don’t know who the winner of playoff path B is going to be

Yet but I don’t think it’ll be anybody that’s going to really concern them so from a a specifically Belgian perspective they need yeah they need to up up their game a little bit coming into this tournament and I feel that the game in Dublin and the game at Wembley

Um can do that really nicely for them and from an point of view um it’s a really good level of fixture um at a side when there’s a degree of transition obviously there for them as well particularly in a coaching sense not sure what’s happening yet so Jon say

Understandably I think we you know be feeling quite good about this fixture and and and quite excited about it I mean why wouldn’t you I mean there’s some great players there to to kind of come up against and to to have a go yeah well that’s what he said were asked

Would it not have been better to get someone easier to play against he goes no these These are the you know the games that we want to play against the best teams but I suppose just just to end it h going into this one how are you feeling what’s your score

Prediction um I’m feeling quite positive just because you know things have been as I was saying earlier you know people are feeling energized and more positive about Belgium again there was a a malise for a long time towards the end of Roberto Martin’s time and there’s been

Lots of positives in the first 12 months under Domino Tesco I think so everybody’s kind of feeling positive about almost everything other than the Kura situation um I think Belgium will come into this you know kind of quite motivated to be honest um and I can see

Belgium winning maybe two- nil on this occasion if I was to put one out there yeah I I can suest winning I’d be very surprised if we did and I’d love if we did but uh you know you similar to yourselves I think there’s a bit of a an

Energy to this team now there’s a there’s a fresh kind of new Vibe coming in and I think it’s a it’s a case of like go out there and try and get result and I do think that Belgium will probably take the lead I think he’s did

That last time a batchwise scoring um but I do think that we’ve got players in form now that I don’t think we should be as maybe gunsho as we have been in the past or as pragmatic I think this is a game where you know we wanted we want

The players that we have there now to get us off the edge of our seats and we’ve got some players there for the first time in a long long time that we can say okay with players in form let’s let’s try and have it go let’s try and

Get at the defense as you said it’s it’s the weakest point of the Belgian inside now we obviously have to be Resolute when we’re defending but I do think there’s enough there to uh to try get somewhat of a results I’m going to go for a 1-1 we’re notorious for one-1

Results so um if it’s more than that and we got a 211 I’d be delighted but I’m going to go for a one-1 uh draw uh myself so that’s what I think yeah yeah I think I think it’ll be a good game regardless I think um there’s no doubt about that yeah well

Listen Scott um I am going to leave you to it and you know I’m sure you’ve plenty of other stuff for anyone who may be wondering where can they find you uh yourself and uh the Belgium football podcast for away there plug it away yeah

Well I could be found in in in several places uh which is either good or bad depend on which way you look at it um I’m part of the three-man team behind the the Belgian football podcast so we produce a a weekly show which covers all the the news in action um across

The