BELGIUM BEATS SERBIA!!

The Headlines:
Rode Duivels leven nog: 3-2 winst tegen Servië
Belgium edges Serbia in Euro 2008 qualifier
Belgium beats Serbia 3-2 in Group A qualifier for Euro 2008
Dembélé double downs Serbia

It's all over the Belgian papers this morning. The Belgian National Team (the underdog) beat Serbia, 3-2 last evening in Brussles. It was a fantastic game, and it just might be enough to put Belgium back in the running towards the European Championships in Spring 2008... maybe. I'm so lucky that I was able to attend; Belgium only plays at home about once every 2 months. The Belgian team dominated the first half, and the score was 2-1 at the half. However, they slowed down dramatically as the end of the 2nd half came around, and I thought they might give the game back to the Serbians in the final minutes, but thankfully the ref blew the whistle and ended it. The stadium was only about half-full, which seems to stem from the fact that they haven't won a game in nearly 9 months and they were (and probably still are) out of the running for the Championships. But last night's match was a big boost for the Belgian morale. What fun!!

With the number of police, security and armormed trucks surrounding the stadium, it was apparent that European football has a clear reputation for getting rowdy. There was only one point during the evening that I thought might turn into something interesting. Belgium was attacking the Serbian goal, and the goalkeeper took out the Belgian forward. He was on the ground for many minutes, and the members of both teams were circling him, cursing and jabbing at each other while the paramedics attended to the injured player. The spectators were on fire!! Whistles, calls, jeers, shouts coming mainly from the Belgian side but retaliated from the Serbian side as well. Finally the police came onto the field and broke up the mob, sending them to opposite sections of the field, and that seemed to quiet down the stands too. The player (#18 - Dembélé) recovered to score Belgium's third goal!

FUN, FUN, FUN!