Big moves for the Red Devils, while top athletes come to Brussels

It’s amazing what a World Cup can do. Just 10 weeks ago, the Red Devils were untested as a team, rated by connoisseurs of the game but still seen as dark horses as they approached their first major international tournament for 12 years.

But after being shaded by Argentina in the quarter-finals in Brazil, the Belgians are a force to be reckoned with, and Europe’s top clubs all seem to want one in their squad.

This month, Barcelona edged out Manchester United to snap up Arsenal captain Thomas Vermaelen for €19 million. The Kapellen-born central defender, who came through the famed Ajax academy in Amsterdam, has been a mainstay of the Belgian defence for the past eight years.

Fellow defender Jan Vertonghen was also rumoured to be a Barcelona target, and could still be snapped up by Manchester United, but is expected to stay at Tottenham with a new long-term contract and a pay rise.

Everton smashed their transfer record when they bought Romelu Lukaku from Chelsea for €35 million – the 21-year-old had already spent last season on loan there, scoring 16 times as the team finished fifth in the Premier League. At the same time, Divock Origi moved to Liverpool from Lille for €13 million, while Steven Defour went from Porto to Anderlecht on a five-year contract that will give him an annual salary of around €1.5 million, making him the highest-paid player in Belgium.

Belgium and Manchester City captain Vincent Kompany has signed a new five-year contract for his club worth a stunning €39 million. And across town, Adnan Januzaj has taken Ryan Giggs’ hallowed No 11 shirt at Manchester United after being encouraged to do so by the long-serving Welshman – an indication of how highly the 19-year-old is regarded at Old Trafford.

Meanwhile, Club Brugge could lose Oscar Duarte, who is a target for Sunderland: Duarte scored against Uruguay in Costa Rica’s shock World Cup victory and has already scored for Brugge in the league this season.

But the summer marked the end of the road for Daniel Van Buyten, who announced his retirement. The 36-year-old defender, who played for Charleroi, Standard Liège, Marseille, Manchester City and Bayern Munich during his career, had received offers from German, French and Belgian clubs, including Anderlecht. Van Buyten, who helped Bayern Munich win four Bundesliga titles, won the last of his 84 caps in the defeat to Argentina.

Closer to home

The domestic season began in early August. Already dominating the Jupiler League are Anderlecht, Club Brugge, Gent and Westerlo. Anderlecht are also in the Champions League, which is due to resume on September 16 and17, with Standard Liège hoping to join them if they get through a qualifier against Zenit Saint Petersburg (where Belgians Nicolas Lombaerts and Axel Witsel will be battling for the Russians).

Club Brugge and Lokeren will need to beat Zurich’s Grasshoppers and England’s Hull City respectively to be sure of playing in the Europa League. 

As for the Red Devils, the World Cup effect also meant a new kit deal with German sportswear giant Adidas that runs until 2016, replacing little-known Burrda. They will wear the new kit for first time in a friendly against Australia on September 4 in Liège. Supporters will also have the chance to catch up with them on September 6 in Ostend when they hold a Family Day with an open training session, and meet-and-greets with fans.

After that, they begin their qualifying campaign for the 2016 European Championships in France, with a match against Israel in Jerusalem on September 9. Belgium are now ranked fifth in the world by Fifa, so they are favourites to top their qualifying group, which includes Wales, Bosnia, Cyprus and Andorra. Such is the expectation among fans now that nothing less is expected from them.

Elsewhere in sport, sprinters Justin Gatlin, Mike Rodgers, Tyson Gay and Kim Collins will be in the line-up at the King Boudewijn stadium in Brussels on September 5 for the Memorial Van Damme games. All four have run the 100m in under 10 seconds this season, with Gatlin the fastest at 9.80. 
 

The home contingent includes long jumper Mathias Broothaerts, Pieter-Jan Hannes in the 1500m, Kevin, Jonathan and Dylan Borlée in the 400m, Eline Berings and Anne Zagré in the 100m hurdles, Axelle Dauwens in the 400m hurdles and Filip Milanov in the discus.

Though Belgium brought back just one medal from the European Athletic Championships in Zurich this month – Nafissatou Thiam’s heptathlon bronze – locals are expected to be on the podium in Brussels. 

Others at the games include New Zealand’s double Olympic shot put champion Valerie Adams, while the high jump will pit Ukrainian world champion Bohdan Bondarenko against Russian Olympic champion Ivan Ukhov. World record holder Usain Bolt is skipping this year’s event for the first time since 2010 as he battles to regain his fitness after surgery on his left foot in March.

Photo credit

© Joan Cros Garcia/Demotix/Corbis