Arsenal defender Thomas Vermaelen is confident that
Belgium can make an impact at the FIFA World Cup in Brazil.
It is 12 years since Belgium last featured in the
showpiece tournament, but Marc Wilmots' talented side have emerged as a force
to be reckoned with and qualified by topping Group A.
The European nation have been drawn with Algeria, Russia
and South Korea in Group H for the finals and are fancied to progress to the
knockout stages.
Vermaelen is relishing the prospect of appearing on the
game's greatest stage and has no doubt a squad that includes talent such as
Eden Hazard, Vincent Kompany and Dries Mertens will be capable of making their
presence felt.
"I'm very excited because it's a new experience for
us," he told Arsenal player.
"In our squad I think there are only two players who
have played at a big tournament before, so it is something we are all looking
forward to.
"The country is so happy for us. If you look at when
we qualified, I think the whole country was watching that game! They're all
thrilled that we're going to the World Cup.
"We go there with no fear to play our games and
we'll make sure we do all we can, put all our effort in and see how far we have
come."
The 28-year-old believes winning the tournament is
achievable and was pleased with the draw for the group stage.
"Everything is possible at the World Cup, it's never
going to be easy, but I think it is a good draw," he added.
"There are more difficult groups but you still have
to play those games.
"Every team deserves their place. But we have a
talented group as well and if we do our job and play well, then it's possible
to go through to the second round."
Belgium start their Group H campaign against Algeria at
Estadio Mineirao in Belo Horizonte on June 17.
Culled from Soccerway
0 comments:
Post a Comment