Euro 2016: With Kevin De Bruyne back where he belongs, Belgium finally woke up against Ireland

In its Euro 2016 opener against Italy, Belgium was just a hollow promise of a great team. A promise that is told and retold by virtue of its glorious possibilities; of what could be, yet is never fulfilled. After an understandable, if not satisfying, tryst with the 2014 World Cup in Brazil, Belgium was expected to light up the Euros. Its young stars had matured into their prime selves, made wiser and better by time, shining brighter than ever. It has to be now, people thought. The Italians thought otherwise. But against Republic of Ireland on Saturday night, Belgium woke up from its absurd slumber and announced its arrival to the European championships in style. It was overdue. It was coming. Belgium played the way it was expected of them and handed Ireland a beating. In the process, they also course corrected their Euro 2016 ship. Once lost at sea, battered and bruised by age-old waves, Belgium has parted the fog and unfurled its sails.The mast now points in the right direction and the vessel is gaining knots. [caption id=“attachment_2843192” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  Romelu Lukaku celebrates with Kevin De Bruyne after scoring Belgium’s first goal . Reuters[/caption] This turn in fortunes is a direct consequence of the Italy loss. Antonio Conte’s Azzuri served a tuition to the Red Devils. And manager Marc Wilmots learnt the lesson. When Belgium came out against the Irish, it had done its homework and was ready for the test. Against Italy, Maroune Fellaini, inexplicably playing where David Silva plays for Spain and Mesut Ozil plays for Germany, was an aberration. On Saturday, he was an unused substitute. Wilmots went back to the drawing board and rewrote the unmistakably mistaken tactics he had employed against a thoroughly professional and experienced team. Fellaini, a Louis van Gaal favourite at Manchester United (a dubious credential unto itself) was dropped and Kevin De Bruyne, who so wrongly had been played from the right last time, started as the number 10, a position he so dearly loves and so wonderfully excels at (more on that later). To take his place on the right, Wilmots got in Yannick Carrasco, Atlético Madrid’s 22-year-old gifted winger, tailor-made for the right flank. Also dropped was Radja Nainggolan and Tottenham Hotspur’s midfield motor Mousa Dembélé was brought into the fray. Another change, and probably most telling of the night, was the inclusion of Thomas Muenier in place of Laurent Ciman in the right-back position. However, Wilmots chose to persist with the Thomas Vermaelan-Toby Alderweireld centre-half combination, with Jan Vertonghen as left-back, a move that was criticised widely. Nevertheless, the transformation was palpable. By changing faces, Belgium finally unleashed its repressed talents and went on an assault on the Irish. One could see a different team, the real Belgium which went missing against Italy, from the the first minute itself. It was a visually stunning display, probably the best of this Euro so far. In the fifth minute itself, Carrasco collected the ball and dashed down the right and squared De Bruyne through, just like that. The Irish defence caught up and the move was foiled, but the tone for the game was set. Belgium’s right wing, which had been as dour as winter’s wind, was as vibrant as a garden in spring this time around. And the change in seasons was brought on by the inclusion of Carrasco and Muenier. The two overlapped relentlessly in tandem down the right flank. You’d think there was a running track there. Muenier, the 24-year-old right back from Club Brugge was a revelation. The right-back was responsible for Belgium’s many chances that were borne from the right. Carrasco held back and cut in as Muenier ran past with the ball, creating spaces that led to chances. Truly it takes two to tango. Belgium’s first-half display was enthusiastic the moment it began, but it ended in the same infuriating manner that they have made their trope. It was goalless at half-time, Belgium had attacked their socks off, the Irish had defended all the same. There were many chances, most of them coming through De Bruyne; a brilliantly taken corner, flicked on dangerously at near post by Vermaelen, but no man to attack it at the far post, another excellent ball in from the left via a free-kick, whizzing agonisingly close to Belgian heads, and yet again no one to latch on to it at its end. All close, but not close enough. But one could sense that goals were lurking around the corner. And one didn’t have to wait for long. Barely a couple of minutes into the second half, Belgium found the all-important first goal of the game, and their tournament. Romelu Lukaku, man under fire for his inconsistencies and largely invisible in the first half despite his broad and hulking frame, reappeared to receive De Bruyne’s pin-point pass, one that the Manchester City midfielder manufactured after a skipping a tackle and making a run for it on the right wing (again, more on that a bit later), and fashioned an exquisite curling low finish from outside the box. The ‘red devils’ had finally tasted blood. And then the floodgates opened. A switched was flicked on, and Belgium were set free. And then came one of Euros best goals, one that was preceded by 28 uninterrupted passes, the last of which was a first time early cross from the right by Muenier which was met by Axel Witsel, making a deceiving late run in the Irish box, and headed into goal. The third and final goal was again engineered by Muneir, arguably second only to De Bruyne on the night in his display. The right-back dispossessed James McClean, turned defence into attack and put the ball to Eden Hazard straight in his line. The Belgian captain skipped past a challenge and ran down the entire right flank, entered the box, and selflessly squared an unmarked Lukaku in the centre. One touch, and a cool low finish later, Belgium had tripled their lead, rounding off the joint-biggest win of this Euro. The promise had been kept on the night. Muenier made a case for himself with a stunning display, made even better by its unexpected nature, that any full-back in the world would be proud of. Thirty-year old Ciman had been a regulation right-back, and in no way he could run and overlap as much as Muenier did. His replacement gave Belgium the fullback, a positional weakness up till now, it deserved. Muenier wasn’t just good going ahead, he was also assertive in defence, though he did not have much to do in that department as the Irish remained docile for the majority of 90 minutes. He deserves to make the team sheet for games ahead. Coming to De Bruyne, I think it is fair to say that he is Europe’s most outrageously talented number 10 at the moment. It is almost unfair how good the guy is. One would hardly peg him for the lethal assassin he is, with his high-school face and college-hair. He is worth every penny of the £55 million Manchester City paid for him, a club record fee. The number and type of arrows in his quiver is unreal – he can run, dribble, shoot from anywhere, pass to anyone, send a cross to a hairpin in the box. His repertoire is not just extensive, but also exclusive. There not many in the world with Kevin De Bruyne’s skillset. After the game against Italy, I had pointed out that Belgium function exceedingly well with a fluid three behind their target man. Who wouldn’t with Hazard, De Bruyne, Dries Mertens, and Carrasco at their disposal in the area? Wilmots had committed a sin by propping up Fellaini in the centre, thus restricting De Bruyne on right. It’s not that De Bruyne can’t play on the right, in-fact he started out his career as a right-midfielder. But against Ireland, De Bruyne, in his now favoured central attacking midfield role, showed his true nature. He crossed, passed, ran from left, right and centre. His assist to Lukaku came from the right, and his first half crosses were predominantly from the left. He is such a river of footballing talent that can flow anywhere on the field that lies in front of him. And he did exactly that on Saturday. Putting him through the centre also creates better link-up play with Hazard. The two had been separated by a rigid Fellaini last time around. Wilmots learnt from his mistakes and put up a shape-shifting three behind Lukaku. De Bruyne was drifting everywhere, Hazard and Carrasco even swapped wings towards the end of first half. Mertens later came in as a substituted and operated in the same fashion. This must be Wilmot’s formula for the road ahead. After all, why bottle up such effervescent talent in your attacking midfield? Belgium have now gained some much-needed confidence with the thumping win ahead of their final Group game against Sweden. With three points, they move to second on the table, behind Italy who have already qualified for the knockout stage after their 1-0 win over the Swedes. Although it’s revisionist to say so, but Wilmots can only wonder what could’ve happened had he gone with the same tactics against the Italians. Something good, one can bet. But even better things await Belgium, if Saturday night is any example.