After Turkey crashed out, Belgium are at serious risk becoming the second major disappointment of this World Cup.
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The Red Devils aren’t out of the tournament yet, although the 0-0 draw against Iran puts Roberto Martinez’s team in a very awkward position. Now, they may well need to win their third and final group match in order to stay alive.
Saelemaekers struggles
Alexis Saelemaekers started against Iran on the right side, but was substituted in the 58th minute, replaced by Lukebakio. The match then became incredibly difficult for the Belgians after Ngoy’s red card in the 66th minute.
In their player ratings published after the game, GOAL gave Saelemaekers a 5 out of 10: “Showed good technique when he picked up possession, but rarely produced anything in terms of final ball or a shot. Replaced before the hour mark.”
In terms of numbers in the nearly 60 minutes played by Saelemaekers, he completed 16/22 passes (73%), had two shots, 34 touches, 2/5 successful dribbles, lost possession 10 times, won a tackle and 3/7 ground duels.
Milan’s other representative in the Belgian national team was the central defender Koni De Winter, but he remained on the bench for the entire match. Now, we must see if Martinez shakes things up to try and get something more out of his team.