5 Belgium players who underperformed against France

The second semi-final of the UEFA Nations League saw Eden Hazard’s Belgium play Hugo Lloris’ France at a neutral venue on Thursday night.

At the Juventus Stadium, the two teams wasted no time measuring each other up, creating respectable chances right from the get-go. While Belgium banked on Kevin De Bruyne and Romelu Lukaku to breach France's defense, Les Bleus put their faith in Kylian Mbappe’s blistering pace.

In the 37th minute, Belgium got the goal they were looking for. Helped by Jules Kounde’s deflection, Yannick Carrasco’s optimistic strike wrong-footed Hugo Lloris to put the Red Devils ahead. Three minutes later, Lukaku dummied Theo Hernandez and put a blistering shot past Lloris to double Belgium's lead.

Surprisingly, Belgium decided to guard their lead instead of extending it in the second half, thus inviting pressure from the World champions. Karim Benzema sprung to life in the 62nd minute, conjuring France’s opener out of nothing. Seven minutes later, Mbappe dispatched an unsavable strike from the penalty spot to level the proceedings.

Finally, in the 90th minute, left-back Theo Hernandez hit a scorcher to win the game for France and set up the finale with Spain on Sunday.

Allowing France to overturn a two-goal deficit was unforgivable and pretty much every Belgian player would be kicking themselves. Still, from where we were sitting, some players looked to be a little more responsible for the defeat than others.

Here are the five Belgium players who underperformed against France in the second UEFA Nations League semi-final.

#5 Timothy Castagne

Belgium v France – UEFA Nations League 2021 Semi-final

Leicester City midfielder Timothy Castagne was picked by Belgium coach Roberto Martinez to provide width in the UEFA Nations League semi-final against France. He danced down the right-hand channel in the first half, but went AWOL in the second. He was caught out of possession a couple of times and could have paid dearly had France been more clinical.

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Truth be told, Castagne did not do much wrong, or right, in the second UEFA Nations League semi-final. However, when you are representing your country against the World champions, you ought to bring more to the table. The right wing-back could not quite manage to fill in for the brilliant Thorgan Hazard.

#4 Youri Tielemans

Youri Tielemans is a capable midfielder on his day, giving his team a good blend of attack and defense. Unfortunately, he endured one of his worst outings in a Belgium shirt in the UEFA Nations League semi-final on Thursday night in Turin.

After a decent first half, he struggled to impose his authority in the second 45. He was completely outplayed by Paul Pogba and could do nothing to stop France’s turnaround.

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To top it off, he brought down Antoine Griezmann in the 66th minute to give away a penalty. Mbappe converted it emphatically to level the game for France.

#3 Axel Witsel

For the most part, Belgium were in complete control of the second UEFA Nations League semi-final on Thursday night. They had an emphatic 2-0 lead in the first half and looked compact enough to keep France’s seemingly toothless attack at bay.

But the game turned on its head in the second half and fingers ought to be pointed at Belgium’s defensive midfielder Axel Witsel. No, he was not completely responsible for all three goals, but his lack of commitment stuck out like a sore thumb.

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The Borussia Dortmund man was one of the four defenders Benzema beat to score France’s opener. Witsel’s half-hearted sweeps to clear the ball away from Benzema’s feet was embarrassing, to say the least, and he failed to make amends afterwards.

Witsel was arguably the worst midfielder in the second semi-final of the UEFA Nations League and did nothing to justify his place in the team.

#2 Eden Hazard

While Karim Benzema led France by example, Belgium captain Eden Hazard endured yet another disappointing outing. In the UEFA Nations League semi-final, the Real Madrid winger was given a free role, but he rarely popped up in the right places.

Due to his niggling injuries, Hazard has been reluctant to take on defenders and that was evident in the UEFA Nations League semi-final against France.

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He picked up the ball in promising areas once or twice, but was content with squaring the ball away to his more effective team-mates. Hazard did manage to get into the box once, but Jules Kounde’s excellent clearance denied him the opportunity to get on the scoresheet.

To top it off, he pulled up in the 75th minute and had to leave the pitch due to an injury, with Leandro Trossard replacing him. The extent of the Real Madrid star's injury is yet to be assessed.

#1 Thibaut Courtois

Real Madrid goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois has been nothing short of a messiah for his club over the last couple of seasons. He has helped Los Blancos win innumerable matches, producing one world class save after another. For Belgium, however, he looked uncharacteristically off-colour on Thursday night.

Courtois was rarely tested in the first half of the second UEFA Nations League semi-final. The going got a little tougher in the second 45 as France started pressing higher up the pitch. Despite sensing impending doom, Courtois failed to reorganize the back-line, and paid the price.

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Goals from Karim Benzema and Kylian Mbappe were pretty much unsavable, but Courtois would have been disappointed with Theo Hernadez’s winner. Despite tracking his strike all the way, the Belgian shotstopper could not position himself well enough to parry it away.

The goal pretty much sealed the game for France, as Belgium did not have enough in the tank to push the game into extra time.

Also Read: Ranking France's 5 best players against Belgium | UEFA Nations League semi-final