URBSFA/KBVB - last updated on 26 October 2007
(Courtesy of Johnny Beaufays)
Association name: Union Royale Belge des Sociétés de Football Association/Koninklijke Belgische Voetbalbond
Foundation: 1895
Confederation UEFA
Colours: Red, black and yellow
Website: www.footbel.com
Honours:
Olympic Games: 1 (1920)
A bit of history:
Belgium played its first official game on May 1, 1904 in a 3-3 draw against France. Prior to this match, a Belgian selection played several matches, but the squad contained some English players, so these are not added to the caps. For example, Belgium beat Netherlands by 8-0 on April 28, 1901 with the help of some Englishmen. It was then decided that Belgium would play twice a year against Netherlands beginning from 1905, generally once in Antwerp and once in Rotterdam (later Amsterdam). At that time, the national squad was chosen by a committee of representatives of the 6 or 7 main clubs.
The team was nicknamed The Red Devils by journalist Pierre Walckiers after its 3:2 victory over Netherlands (Rotterdam, 1906).
Over the next six decades, Belgium established itself as a strong second-tier team, rarely in the running for winning a major tournament but never easy to handle at home or abroad. A key strength of the team was its systematic use of the offside trap, a defensive tactic developed in the 1960s at Anderlecht under French coach Pierre Sinibaldi.
The 1980s and early 1990s are generally considered the strongest period of the national team. Under the lead of Guy Thys, who coached more than 100 official games, Belgium established a reputation of being a physical, well-organized team that was hard to play against. The team's rigorous organization was reinforced by several world-class players such as goalkeeper Jean-Marie Pfaff, right-back Eric Gerets, midfielder Jan Ceulemans, and playmaker Enzo Scifo. Performances were sometimes poor against lower-ranked teams, but nearly always inspired against top teams. Until as recently as 2002, world-class national teams did not like the prospect of playing the Red Devils--not even eventual champions Brazil, who won 2-0 with some difficulty in the knockout phase of the 2002 World Cup. Since then, however, the team has steadily slipped down the rankings, and has not been able to extend its past reputation.
After failing to qualify for the 2006 World Cup for the first time in 24 years, the contract of national coach Aimé Anthuenis was not renewed beyond 2005, and it was decided on December 22, 2005 that René Vandereycken would replace Anthuenis on January 1, 2006. On August 16 of that year, they started their new campaign against Kazakhstan and although the team had made the confidence of the home public grow through some promising performances from new talented young players against teams as Slovakia and Turkey, they played awfully and did not manage to get past the team from Kazakhstan. The situation got worse after also losing the home game against Poland on November 15 of that year. Qualification already seemed far away.
Club crests: (roll on the crest to get more informations)
URBSFA/KBVB
