Kevin De Bruyne has dismissed suggestions of unrest in the Belgium camp following their 3-0 win over Republic of Ireland on Saturday.
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Belgium coach Marc Wilmots had been under pressure for his team selection and the poor performance against Italy, but his decision to drop Marouane Fellaini, Radja Nainggolan and Laurent Ciman paid off as his team answered their critics in emphatic style.
The former Reading and Wolves forward is helpless in assisting the Irish cause but, having watched Belgium’s second-half drubbing of Ireland, Doyle has revealed the change that he wanted to see made after noticing how isolated Shane Long was against the Belgian defence.
“We’ve got a good history against Italy as well and hopefully they rest a few players”.
Hendrick believes the fact that they need the win will focus the minds of the players and work as a motivating factor with little room for any doubt or the mistakes that cost them in Bordeaux.
A win against Italy in the final group games on Wednesday looks like the only result that can get Ireland into the knockouts, but the fans are not down in the mouth about our prospective exit.
The result was a fair illustration of Belgium’s dominance in the match.
“Then you start to chase the game a bit, get stretched, and of course very fine players can punish you, and that s what happened”.
“We were not going to play defensively against Ireland or you would be sacking me all over again – don’t worry I am used to that”. I just needed to explains things to him and make sure he knew I trusted him. “We had a very good first performance, we had a good 45 minute performance today”.
“Overall, we were beaten by a better team and one as talented as any in the competition”, O’Neill told a news conference. “We have a big chance now against Italy”, added O’Shea.
“We’re capable of breaking Italy down and we might have to only take the one chance – that might be enough”.
It was the flawless way for Marc Wilmots’ side to respond after the head coach was on the receiving end of severe criticism from both his players and fans after their 2-0 defeat to Italy.
“We have to win the game, that can be our only thought”.
After going a game and half without a goal, the Belgian attack was hungry to score and they would satisfy that hunger shortly after half-time.
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Manager Martin O’Neill said: “It’s been mentioned twice to me and I know that the players seem to be pretty adamant about it”. “We need to have the mentality we had today for our future matches”.
