{"id":9971,"date":"2016-06-30T17:54:30","date_gmt":"2016-06-30T16:54:30","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.colossusbets.com\/?p=9971"},"modified":"2021-03-27T06:41:39","modified_gmt":"2021-03-27T06:41:39","slug":"overrated-rated-belgium-can-win-euros","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.colossusbets.com\/blog\/overrated-rated-belgium-can-win-euros\/","title":{"rendered":"From overrated to rated – Belgium can win the Euros"},"content":{"rendered":"

From overrated to rated – Belgium can win the Euros. Belgium are currently in the midst of their Golden Generation. With the likes of Romelu Lukaku, Kevin de Bruyne, Thibaut Courtois, Jan Vertonghen, Toby Alderweireld, Eden Hazard among others, hitting their peak or currently in it, the Red Devils \u2013 on paper \u2013 look a truly special side.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s reminiscent of the England 2004 generation. The Golden Boys. They don’t come around often, so it\u2019s important that they have the right steps in place to take full advantage of a fantastic squad. The World Cup in Brazil came too early for this Belgian side. They were naive and not ready for the heights they could reach. In the end, Belgium topped their group, but lost in the Quarter Finals to a very good Argentina side the tactically outwitted them.<\/p>\n

Two years on, and a rocky European Championship qualifying stage later, they came to France as one of the dark horses of the tournament. No one thought they were outright favourites to lift the trophy, like France or Germany<\/a> were, but could be contenders to pose a threat later on in the knockout rounds.<\/p>\n

Their opening game against Italy completely threw people off. This was tipped as one of the worst Italian teams in decades. They had no \u2018superstar\u2019 like France\u2019s Paul Pogba or Germany\u2019s Thomas M\u00fcller, they just have a lot of mediocre-to-good players in their roster.<\/p>\n

But what Italy do have is a big-game mentality, and are also very tactically in tune with their surroundings and other teams. That\u2019s thanks to tactician Antonio Conte, who will be joining Chelsea after his stint with Italy comes to an end this summer. The Azzurri smashed Belgium out of the park, with 2-0 looking like a generous result for Marc Wilmots\u2019 team.<\/p>\n

Doubters started to do their thing and question whether this Belgium side were one for the bottle. There has been plenty of teams before it in a golden generation that have underperformed \u2013 cough, England, cough \u2013 and fans\u2019 hopes of the country creating success faltered quite dramatically.<\/p>\n

A 3-0 win over Republic of Ireland and a difficult 1-0 victory versus Sweden resulted in Belgium finishing second in Group E behind Italy, on a head-to-head record. Luckily for Marc Wilmots and co., this would mean Belgium were placed in the \u2018easier\u2019 side of the draw.<\/p>\n

Now this is where they started going through the gears and playing the expansive, fluid football we\u2019d have expected from the Red Devils. Eden Hazard had a huge part in this. The Chelsea maestro hasn\u2019t had his best season domestically, but in this game, it was the old Hazard. He dumbfounded defenders with his dazzling footwork and electric turn of pace, when his eye is in tune with his surroundings, boy can he pick out a player or two. Everything was run through Hazard and in the end the Belgium attacker picked up a goal and an assist, along with the Man of the Match award.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s fair to say that when Eden Hazard is on form, he\u2019s one of the best players in the world \u2013 behind Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo. He carried Belgium through that game on his broad shoulders and led them to an emphatic win \u2013 one of the highest scoring matches in the tournament so far.<\/p>\n

A nation\u2019s hopes were restored. On Friday they take on Wales, in what should be a fascinating game, but nonetheless, Hazard\u2019s Belgium should progress to a Semi Final. And with that, they\u2019ll either face Poland or Portugal, which again, judging from what we\u2019ve seen, is most definitely negotiable.<\/p>\n

Belgium\u2019s Golden Generation<\/a> are onto something if they can allow Hazard the freedom and mobility to work his magical. From underrated to overrated to rated; Belgium are on the right track.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

From overrated to rated – Belgium can win the Euros. Belgium are currently in the midst of their Golden Generation. With the likes of Romelu Lukaku, Kevin de Bruyne, Thibaut Courtois, Jan Vertonghen, Toby Alderweireld, Eden Hazard among others, hitting their peak or currently in it, the Red Devils \u2013 on paper \u2013 look a truly special side.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":27,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[643],"tags":[174,177],"class_list":["post-9971","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-sport","tag-news","tag-ticker"],"yoast_head":"\nFrom overrated to rated - Belgium can win the Euros<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"From overrated to rated - Belgium can win the Euros. Belgium are currently in the midst of their Golden Generation. With the likes of Romelu Lukaku, Kevin de Bruyne, Thibaut Courtois, Jan Vertonghen, Toby Alderweireld, Eden Hazard among others, hitting their peak or currently in it.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.colossusbets.com\/blog\/overrated-rated-belgium-can-win-euros\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"From overrated to rated - Belgium can win the Euros\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"From overrated to rated - Belgium can win the Euros. Belgium are currently in the midst of their Golden Generation. With the likes of Romelu Lukaku, Kevin de Bruyne, Thibaut Courtois, Jan Vertonghen, Toby Alderweireld, Eden Hazard among others, hitting their peak or currently in it.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.colossusbets.com\/blog\/overrated-rated-belgium-can-win-euros\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Colossus Blog\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/SportsBigger\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2016-06-30T16:54:30+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2021-03-27T06:41:39+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.colossusbets.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/07\/Hazard.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"600\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"386\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Liam Canning\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@https:\/\/twitter.com\/LiamPaulCanning\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@ColossusBets\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Liam Canning\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.colossusbets.com\\\/blog\\\/overrated-rated-belgium-can-win-euros\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.colossusbets.com\\\/blog\\\/overrated-rated-belgium-can-win-euros\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Liam Canning\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.colossusbets.com\\\/blog\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/adfe7dc7933a43534c1d06050d5d180b\"},\"headline\":\"From overrated to rated – Belgium can win the Euros\",\"datePublished\":\"2016-06-30T16:54:30+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2021-03-27T06:41:39+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.colossusbets.com\\\/blog\\\/overrated-rated-belgium-can-win-euros\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":654,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.colossusbets.com\\\/blog\\\/#organization\"},\"keywords\":[\"News\",\"Ticker\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Sport\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"copyrightYear\":\"2016\",\"copyrightHolder\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.colossusbets.com\\\/blog\\\/#organization\"}},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.colossusbets.com\\\/blog\\\/overrated-rated-belgium-can-win-euros\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.colossusbets.com\\\/blog\\\/overrated-rated-belgium-can-win-euros\\\/\",\"name\":\"From overrated to rated - Belgium can win the Euros\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.colossusbets.com\\\/blog\\\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2016-06-30T16:54:30+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2021-03-27T06:41:39+00:00\",\"description\":\"From overrated to rated - Belgium can win the Euros. Belgium are currently in the midst of their Golden Generation. With the likes of Romelu Lukaku, Kevin de Bruyne, Thibaut Courtois, Jan Vertonghen, Toby Alderweireld, Eden Hazard among others, hitting their peak or currently in it.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.colossusbets.com\\\/blog\\\/overrated-rated-belgium-can-win-euros\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.colossusbets.com\\\/blog\\\/overrated-rated-belgium-can-win-euros\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.colossusbets.com\\\/blog\\\/overrated-rated-belgium-can-win-euros\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.colossusbets.com\\\/blog\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"From overrated to rated – Belgium can win the Euros\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.colossusbets.com\\\/blog\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.colossusbets.com\\\/blog\\\/\",\"name\":\"Colossus Blog\",\"description\":\"Colossus Blog\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.colossusbets.com\\\/blog\\\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.colossusbets.com\\\/blog\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.colossusbets.com\\\/blog\\\/#organization\",\"name\":\"Colossus Bets\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.colossusbets.com\\\/blog\\\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.colossusbets.com\\\/blog\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.colossusbets.com\\\/blog\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2021\\\/01\\\/rYeFCrFc_400x400.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.colossusbets.com\\\/blog\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2021\\\/01\\\/rYeFCrFc_400x400.png\",\"width\":400,\"height\":400,\"caption\":\"Colossus Bets\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.colossusbets.com\\\/blog\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.facebook.com\\\/SportsBigger\\\/\",\"https:\\\/\\\/x.com\\\/ColossusBets\",\"https:\\\/\\\/www.instagram.com\\\/colossusbets_\\\/?hl=en\",\"https:\\\/\\\/www.linkedin.com\\\/company\\\/colossus-bets\\\/\",\"https:\\\/\\\/www.youtube.com\\\/user\\\/ColossusBets\\\/featured\"]},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.colossusbets.com\\\/blog\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/adfe7dc7933a43534c1d06050d5d180b\",\"name\":\"Liam Canning\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/6331952a3fc2ecf3dde086e31e75060aa0bb3a1f616a989ac2fe4f3f31783635?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/6331952a3fc2ecf3dde086e31e75060aa0bb3a1f616a989ac2fe4f3f31783635?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/6331952a3fc2ecf3dde086e31e75060aa0bb3a1f616a989ac2fe4f3f31783635?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Liam Canning\"},\"description\":\"Freelance sports journalist who has featured on The Independent, Telegraph, Sunday Telegraph, London Evening Standard, Mirror and Express! Also a BIG Manchester United enthusiast.\",\"sameAs\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/x.com\\\/https:\\\/\\\/twitter.com\\\/LiamPaulCanning\"],\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.colossusbets.com\\\/blog\\\/author\\\/liamcanning\\\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"From overrated to rated - Belgium can win the Euros","description":"From overrated to rated - Belgium can win the Euros. Belgium are currently in the midst of their Golden Generation. With the likes of Romelu Lukaku, Kevin de Bruyne, Thibaut Courtois, Jan Vertonghen, Toby Alderweireld, Eden Hazard among others, hitting their peak or currently in it.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.colossusbets.com\/blog\/overrated-rated-belgium-can-win-euros\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"From overrated to rated - Belgium can win the Euros","og_description":"From overrated to rated - Belgium can win the Euros. Belgium are currently in the midst of their Golden Generation. With the likes of Romelu Lukaku, Kevin de Bruyne, Thibaut Courtois, Jan Vertonghen, Toby Alderweireld, Eden Hazard among others, hitting their peak or currently in it.","og_url":"https:\/\/www.colossusbets.com\/blog\/overrated-rated-belgium-can-win-euros\/","og_site_name":"Colossus Blog","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/SportsBigger\/","article_published_time":"2016-06-30T16:54:30+00:00","article_modified_time":"2021-03-27T06:41:39+00:00","og_image":[{"width":600,"height":386,"url":"https:\/\/www.colossusbets.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/07\/Hazard.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Liam Canning","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@https:\/\/twitter.com\/LiamPaulCanning","twitter_site":"@ColossusBets","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Liam Canning","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/www.colossusbets.com\/blog\/overrated-rated-belgium-can-win-euros\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.colossusbets.com\/blog\/overrated-rated-belgium-can-win-euros\/"},"author":{"name":"Liam Canning","@id":"https:\/\/www.colossusbets.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/adfe7dc7933a43534c1d06050d5d180b"},"headline":"From overrated to rated – Belgium can win the Euros","datePublished":"2016-06-30T16:54:30+00:00","dateModified":"2021-03-27T06:41:39+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.colossusbets.com\/blog\/overrated-rated-belgium-can-win-euros\/"},"wordCount":654,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.colossusbets.com\/blog\/#organization"},"keywords":["News","Ticker"],"articleSection":["Sport"],"inLanguage":"en-US","copyrightYear":"2016","copyrightHolder":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.colossusbets.com\/blog\/#organization"}},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.colossusbets.com\/blog\/overrated-rated-belgium-can-win-euros\/","url":"https:\/\/www.colossusbets.com\/blog\/overrated-rated-belgium-can-win-euros\/","name":"From overrated to rated - Belgium can win the Euros","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.colossusbets.com\/blog\/#website"},"datePublished":"2016-06-30T16:54:30+00:00","dateModified":"2021-03-27T06:41:39+00:00","description":"From overrated to rated - Belgium can win the Euros. Belgium are currently in the midst of their Golden Generation. With the likes of Romelu Lukaku, Kevin de Bruyne, Thibaut Courtois, Jan Vertonghen, Toby Alderweireld, Eden Hazard among others, hitting their peak or currently in it.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.colossusbets.com\/blog\/overrated-rated-belgium-can-win-euros\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.colossusbets.com\/blog\/overrated-rated-belgium-can-win-euros\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.colossusbets.com\/blog\/overrated-rated-belgium-can-win-euros\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.colossusbets.com\/blog\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"From overrated to rated – Belgium can win the Euros"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.colossusbets.com\/blog\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.colossusbets.com\/blog\/","name":"Colossus Blog","description":"Colossus Blog","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.colossusbets.com\/blog\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.colossusbets.com\/blog\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/www.colossusbets.com\/blog\/#organization","name":"Colossus Bets","url":"https:\/\/www.colossusbets.com\/blog\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.colossusbets.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/www.colossusbets.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/rYeFCrFc_400x400.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.colossusbets.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/rYeFCrFc_400x400.png","width":400,"height":400,"caption":"Colossus Bets"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.colossusbets.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/SportsBigger\/","https:\/\/x.com\/ColossusBets","https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/colossusbets_\/?hl=en","https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/company\/colossus-bets\/","https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/user\/ColossusBets\/featured"]},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.colossusbets.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/adfe7dc7933a43534c1d06050d5d180b","name":"Liam Canning","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/6331952a3fc2ecf3dde086e31e75060aa0bb3a1f616a989ac2fe4f3f31783635?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/6331952a3fc2ecf3dde086e31e75060aa0bb3a1f616a989ac2fe4f3f31783635?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/6331952a3fc2ecf3dde086e31e75060aa0bb3a1f616a989ac2fe4f3f31783635?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Liam Canning"},"description":"Freelance sports journalist who has featured on The Independent, Telegraph, Sunday Telegraph, London Evening Standard, Mirror and Express! Also a BIG Manchester United enthusiast.","sameAs":["https:\/\/x.com\/https:\/\/twitter.com\/LiamPaulCanning"],"url":"https:\/\/www.colossusbets.com\/blog\/author\/liamcanning\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.colossusbets.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9971","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.colossusbets.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.colossusbets.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.colossusbets.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/27"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.colossusbets.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=9971"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.colossusbets.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9971\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":38757,"href":"https:\/\/www.colossusbets.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9971\/revisions\/38757"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.colossusbets.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9971"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.colossusbets.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=9971"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.colossusbets.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9971"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}