Psyche
Belgium’s Rode Duivels dominated the French during the first half of the Nations League. After 45 minutes, it was 2-0 with wonderful goals from Carrasco and Lukaku.
During the second half, the momentum changed dramatically in favor of Les Blues. Ultimately, the French hammered the nail in the coffin, as they scored their third goal. 2-3!
“We failed on tactics.”, Jan Mulder
“We should have started with Vanaken, the man in form, over Tielemans.”
There are plenty of opinions why, yet again, Belgium fails when it is for all the marbles.
I think it goes beyond the tactics and the players. It is about the collective psyche. Belgians lack that killer instinct, that winner’s psyche. Sure there are plenty of amazing Belgian winners in many sport disciplines. They are talented and amazing athletes. Yet, when it comes down a small difference, when it comes to winning on character, we often lack the final punch.
Let’s start with L’Equipe’s headline going into this game capturing the mood among the French. It is frying time! You won’t see that headline in Belgium.
Nothing is coming home to Belgium, nor do we crown ourselves champions at the beginning of the tournament. That’s a classic Dutch move.
The Dutch, the Italians, the Brazilians and the French share that same cocky attitude. It gives them the extra few percent to win. That collective psyche is what we saw on display today. It is also what we saw on display when the French cycling team trumped the Belgian favorites going into the world championship cycling this year. It is about the attitude.