FIX UP, LOOK

Roberto Martinez inherited a team booed by its own fans after Euro 2016 and took them to the top of FIFA’s world rankings. Belgium’s gaffer tells FFT why winning style awards isn’t enough for a group desperately seeking silverware

Words Richard Edwards

It’s June 19, 2000. In Brussels, a dark mood has descended across a city synonymous with dour-suited bureaucrats. While 48,000 people depart the King Baudouin Stadium, there’s a familiar feeling of aching disappointment laying heavy in the air as Euro 2000 hosts Belgium face up to leaving their own party early. 

Across the North Sea in northern England, a 20-something Spaniard is on his summer holidays, having missed out on Wigan Athletic’s botched Second Division play-off adventure through injury. The odds of Roberto Martinez eventually managing Belgium look even slimmer than those of the Euro 80 finalists competing for international honours once again. A country better known for its cyclists appears to be hurtling down a hill with faulty brakes and a rusty chain.

Martinez is focusing on the final 12 months of his Wigan deal, five years after touching down at Springfield Park as one of the Latics’ fabled ‘Three Amigos’ alongside Jesus Seba and Isidro Diaz. The last of the Spaniards standing, he has just watched the wheels come off Wigan’s promotion challenge under Wembley’s Twin Towers against Gillingham. He knows that they – much like Belgium – face a mammoth rebuilding job.

Wind forward to mid-2021 and, with the coronavirus pandemic still raging, Martinez finds himself in very different circumstances – staring into the camera of his laptop from Brussels for a meeting with FourFourTwo. Sat atop FIFA’s world rankings, his Belgium team have recently completed their latest round of competitive fixtures, signing off with an 8-0 battering of Belarus. That result, coupled with a victory over Wales and a draw in the Czech Republic, should ensure their passage to Qatar 2022 will be as smooth as a Kevin De Bruyne through-ball.

Is it any wonder after a year’s delay, then, that Martinez is eagerly awaiting Euro 2020 like a kid at Christmas? Belgium are all set, and their coach has one goal in sight...

YOUNG MAN’S GAME

It’s 21 years since the Red Devils’ limp Euro 2000 showing on home soil, and rather a lot has changed for both the team and their genial gaffer Martinez.

“I was intrigued by major tournaments,” the 47-year-old tells FFT ahead of his second as Belgium boss. “It’s a unique experience – you’ve got the entire country feeling all the emotions of the team. The first time I ever discovered football was through the 1978 World Cup in Argentina. I’ve always wanted to be involved in a tournament, but I never expected to be. I didn’t ever anticipate being at a World Cup or a European Championship at such a young age.