Euro 2012 Qualifying Betting: Belgium v Germany

Internationals / Tobias Gourlay / 02 September 2010 / Leave a Comment

Belgium springs a Leekens: Is the Red Devils' new coach the man to help the Low Country hit the heights again?

"Upon Franky Vercauteren’s departure last year, an outgoing member of his medical staff spoke of the ‘sick attitude of childish snobs’."

Tobias Gourlay believes Germany will make bratwurst of a talented but ill-disciplined Belgian side in Brussels on Friday night.

Germany's success in South Africa without Michael Ballack presented their coach, Joachim Low, with a dilemma. Although Philipp Lahm will wear the armband for Friday's game with Belgium, if Michael Ballack gets fit in time for next month's qualifiers, Low has told the fullback he will have to hand it over.

Had the pair been Belgian, their gentle tug of war would hardly have been mentioned amidst the last couple of years' slew of fiendishly bad behaviour. The Red Devils have some talented young players - Vermaelen, Kompany and Fellaini from the Premier League, Eden Hazard, Steven Defour and Romelu Lukaku from other places - but their previous couple of coaches lasted only half a year each in the job. Upon Franky Vercauteren's departure last year, an outgoing member of his medical staff spoke of the 'sick attitude of childish snobs'. Fissures in the squad reflect the fissure in the country at large - between the Flemish and Walloon populations - but there are also cracks in the relationships of the younger and older players.

Georges Leekens, the new coach, has quite a job getting them all to Euro 2012 together and records suggest he will not win his first competitive game in charge. Belgium have lost 6/6 to Germany since the latter's unification. They've also lost a couple of home games in each of their last three qualifying campaigns. In the face of Low's W8-D3-L0 record in away qualifiers, it's hard to believe this won't finish in victory for the [1.6] visitors.

Best Bet: Back Germany at [1.6] to win