Playing against the modest side of San Marino, the Red Devils did not shine, far from it. The FIFA Ranking usually does not mean much when it comes to real football, but the difference between Belgium and San Marino is so huge that the Red Devils are the 1st in the ranking, as San Marino is the worst-ranked National Team in the World. Belgium, in fact, delivered very a poor first half, scoring only one goal against a very weak National Team, and went on into the second half to score three more. Mitchy Batshuayi, Dries Mertens, and Chadli scored in the 4-0 win for the Red Devils.
The game, in general, was very poor, as San Marino lacked quality, and Belgium lacked will. Adnan Januzaj hit the post with 33 on the clock, but the deadlock was broken only at 44. The referee awarded Belgium a penalty, which was taken by Batshuayi, who scored. 0-1 Belgium.
After the interval, the game seemed to be a little bit better, with Belgium willing to attack a little bit more. The visitors doubled their lead on 55 minutes, as Chadli fed Napoli’s Mertens, who calmly found the bottom of the net past Benedittini. 0-2 Belgium. Note that the two who made the whole action came from the bench a few minutes before, replacing Divock Origi, and Januzaj.
The two-goal advantage quickly turned into 3-0 in the 64th minute. The duo Chadli-Mertens worked once again, but this time, the Napoli player was the provider for Chadli, who fired home past Benedettini. 0-3.
It should have stayed like that, but on 90 minutes, Batshuayi took advantage of the lack of attention of the opposing defense to score the last goal of the match. 4-0.
Once again, it was a poor performance from the Red Devils despite the 4-0. I mean, even weaker European National Teams had scored 10 goals past San Marino before, and the superb Belgian generation struggled to score four against them. It’s something to bear in mind for sure.