Euro 2016: Belgium have an easy path ahead, but Kevin de Bruyne needs better support

There have been a few shocks in the ongoing European Championships, but there wasn’t a soul who was remotely surprised when Belgium advanced from Group E to the round-of-16 by beating Sweden on Wednesday night. Sweden were the victims of Euro 2016’s ‘group of death’, as the Red Devils closed down a tightly contested game like how all tightly contested games are supposed to be closed down: With a wonder strike. Sweden didn’t go out with a whimper though. On what eventually turned out to be Zlatan Ibrahimovic’s final game for his country, Sweden finally woke up and gave Belgium a good fight before going down to Radja Nainggolan’s screamer. Belgium will now face Hungary in the round-of-16, a relatively easy match-up for them. The team has rediscovered its mojo and is playing good football after an  initial setback against Italy . It took time and a bit of tinkering. But they got there. Bringing in Yannick Carrasco and Thomas Muenier on the right worked wonderfully against Ireland, and they stuck with the same look on Wednesday again. [caption id=“attachment_2851592” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] Belgium got three points through a Radja Nainggolan goal. AP[/caption] Nainggolan replaced Mousa Dembele as the only change in Belgium’s starting XI. The game started in a lively manner, with both teams wanting to seal the deal and progress to the knock-out round. Belgium again exhibited some free flowing football that was very easy on the eye. But they are not without problems yet. It was a closely contested game and was understandably deadlocked for a long time. Sweden were a bit extravagant in the first half, and Belgium had many chances that could have been more, but instead went begging. And all chances came mostly from the one man who has been Belgium’s best player by far this tournament: Kevin de Bruyne. De Bruyne enjoyed another marvellous night for Belgium, especially in the first half. He was a constant threat and always looked to fashion a goal through his brilliance. The Manchester City man stamped his authority early on when he galloped through the centre of the field with acres of space in front of him and released Romelu Lukaku on his left. Lukaku, Belgium’s hero against Ireland, dribbled the ball wide in face of a marker and shot across the goal. But it took a slight deflection and went for a corner. Somehow, one got a feeling that this was going to happen again. And it did. De Bruyne operated abundantly from the left and repeatedly whipped in probing crosses that were begging to be tapped into the goal. But somehow all of them were just beyond the reach of Lukaku’s outstretched leg. It always felt that there were not enough men attacking the balls put into the box by de Bruyne. Lukaku possesses excellent finishing abilities, as we got to see in Belgium’s last game, but his spatial awareness and positioning leave much to be desired. He needs to be way more alert and quick to pounce on the chances when they come about. Each one of the chances he missed on Wednesday could end up chucking you out of the tournament once the knockout stages begin. Late in the second half, de Bruyne dissected the midfield with an excellent through ball from way inside his own half. Lukaku found himself at the end of it and was virtually through on goal, but he couldn’t finish past an onrushing Andreas Isaksson. Ten minutes later, Nainggolan finally ended the suspense when he drilled the ball into the net with a vicious strike from outside the box. For all of de Bruyne’s beautiful play, it was a crude and brutish — but no less admirable — strike that killed the game in the end. Marc Wilmots had brought on the Roma destroyer for this very same purpose. He offers much more attacking threat than Dembele. Belgium now face Hungary, who earlier held Portugal to a 3-3 draw in an exhilarating game to top Group F. Hungary, once a world beating force in the 1950s, have scripted a wonderful story to reach the finals of Euro 2016. The Magical Magyars, as they were called during the heydays of the legendary Ferenc Puskás, qualified for the European Championships after a gap of 44 years. They last appeared at Euro 1972, which was incidentally hosted by Belgium. And though Hungary have impressed immensely to enter the round-of-16 as table-toppers, the sheer quality of this Belgian side should be too much for them to handle. However, Wilmots and his team cannot take the game lightly. It is a knock-out match and it depends what unfolds in those 90 minutes. But things are looking bright for Belgium. If they get past Hungary, they will face either Wales or Northern Ireland in the quarter-final. Belgium have a relatively easy route to the semi-final laid out for them, and one would expect them to make the  last four. If they don’t, they would again be considered the team which underachieved and choked at the big stage. This Belgian side has showed enough maturity to bounce back after the Italy loss. One more and they could have been staring at elimination, but have believed in themselves and their abilities. And they know that if they play to the best of their abilities, they can beat anyone. And for that, they need to pick their game up a bit. De Bruyne has been mesmerising up till now, but the rest of them need to step up their game too. Eden Hazard, their captain in Vincent Kompany’s absence, has linked well with de Bruyne, but he must find his 2014-15 form. It often feels that he still is suffering from the hangover of a horrible season. He must find the net and get the monkey off his back. Belgium are often overtly reliant on de Bruyne. They are not a one-man team, and they should stop acting like one from time-to-time.