De Bruyne Approaches Opening Day with Caution Alongside Belgium at Euro 2024
2 min read
Kevin de Bruyne approaches the opening match of Belgium at Euro 2024 with caution, especially against Slovakia, their first opponent. He acknowledges Slovakia’s playing style and emphasizes the team’s determination to secure all 3 points.
Belgium’s national team will kick off their Euro 2024 campaign against Slovakia. Favored over their opponents, securing 3 points is undoubtedly the primary goal for the “Red Devils,” aiming for a smooth start and ensuring a ticket to the next round.
Ahead of this crucial match, Belgium’s midfielder Kevin de Bruyne has shown cautiousness in evaluating Slovakia. The 33-year-old shared, “We have watched some clips of Slovakia, they play in a 4-3-3 formation, I think their coach is related to Maurizio Sarri, so they play quite similarly if they play that way.”
“They are really aggressive in their 4-3-3 formation, high pressing, the midfield three are very progressive and try to push up along with the rest of the team, and they try to play good football. My opinion is that they will probably try to do something similar tomorrow. If I look at the clips, the key players are the midfield trio, because they are the ones connecting the team, so I think they might be their strength.”
However, the Manchester City star also showed Belgium’s resolve, adding, “We know what will happen from Slovakia, we respect them a lot, and we need to be at our highest level tomorrow to play a good game, and we will try to do that.”
In contrast, Belgium’s coach Tedesco showed relaxation ahead of his first international tournament. The 38-year-old strategist stated, “I am very happy because we finally start at EURO 2024 because, as you can imagine, the past weeks and months have been difficult for us to come here and play in this tournament. So we are very happy, and we are also a bit relaxed because I think the past weeks have been very good, very positive.”
When asked about how Belgium compares to the strongest teams in the tournament, Tedesco appeared uncertain, admitting, “We will see that in the coming days. We have made a lot of changes in this team, in the lineup. Some players retired after the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, so we have some young players. We will see, we passed the qualifiers very well.”
“We played friendly matches with Germany, we faced England at Wembley, but a EURO tournament like this is a completely different story. It’s a different atmosphere, so we’ll see; I’m also very curious.”
The match between Belgium and Slovakia will take place at 11:00 PM tonight (June 17th).
