Hungary vs Belgium

The Hungarians surprised everyone by topping Group F and playing some good football along the way. First they shocked a fancied Austria side 2–0, Adam Szalai poked the first goal in before Austria’s Aleksandar Dragovic was sent off for two yellow cards. Zolton Stieber wrapped things up with classy chip three minutes from time. A 1–1 draw with Group F’s other surprise package Iceland followed, before an incredible 3–3 draw with Cristiano Ronaldo’s Portugal. 37 year old Zoltan Gera rolled back the years with a sweet volley from outside the box and star man Balazs Dzsudzsak’s two deflected strikes almost won it before a Ronaldo header squared it at 3 apiece. While not quite looking like the ‘Golden Team’ of the 1950s, Hungary can be proud of their achievements so far.

Belgium was touted as one of this years favourite’s for Euro 2016. It did not start well however, a 2–0 loss to a solid Italy team had people wondering if Coach Marc Wilmots wasted Belgium’s golden generation. A team with the like of Eden Hazard, Kevin de Bruyne and Romelu Lukaku should not be losing games like this without putting up more of a fight. Thankfully for the Red Devils a comfortable 3–0 victory followed over a Rep of Ireland team that were poor at the back and weak to Belgium’s lighting counter attacking. Lukaku took his two goals coolly either side of an Axel Witsel header, however Wilmots’s side again failed to impress in their last group game against a really low quality Sweden. A 1–0 win courtesy of a sweet Radja Nainggolan strike from 25 yards was enough to see them through.

Prediction.

Despite their less than brilliant showing so far in the tournament Belgium will have enough to put Hungary away. An improved performance here could kick start the Red Devils run at the final. Their big players need to take responsibility and show Hungary why they are the number 1 ranked team in the world before the tournament started. Hungary have done well to get this far but a 40 year old goalkeeper will have a lot of work to do if Belgium get their act together.

Belgium 2–0 Hungary

Three At The Back

Cathal