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Brazil 2014 is too early for the young Rode Duivels

KADEEM SIMMONDS looks at a very talented Belgium side

Belgium will play in a major tournament for the first time in 12 years and have a team made up of  some of the worlds most talented youngsters. But is it too soon?

With the likes of Chelsea duo Eden Hazard and Romelu Lukaku and Manchester United’s Adnan Januzaj, they have the talent to cause a major surprise this month.

They conceded just four goals in 10 qualifying games and finished nine points above second-placed Croatia.

But since then, results haven’t been as good. They failed to beat Colombia, Japan and Ivory Coast in friendlies, and although last year fans around the world tipped de Rode Duivels (the Red Devils) to go all the way, many now think this side will need more time to gel and mature.

The loss of Aston Villa’s Christian Beneke has been softened with the continued improvement of Lukaku, but at 21 he may find the big occasion too much for him.

Manchester City captain Vincent Kompany will add vital experience to the side but 26-year-olds Moussa Dembele and Marouane Fellaini come into the tournament on the back of very disappointing seasons at Tottenham and Manchester United respectively.

Not to mention Arsenal’s Thomas Vermaelen not playing regularly this season, manager Marc Wilmots has a dilemma on his hands with the older players of his 23-man squad lacking match practice at club level last season.

Does he play a young side and focus on gaining experience for the European Championships in France or does he trust the experienced members of the squad to achieve qualification to the round of 16 where they are likely to meet one of Portugal or Germany?

In theory they should have no trouble qualifying out of a  group consisting of Algeria, Russia and South Korea.

Russia are the toughest team out of the three but have failed to live up to recent expectations on the big stage.

With the world watching, Belgium are sure to entertain this summer and have a very bright future ahead.

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