Faces of Football: Belgium - a letter to the national team
By 90min Staff
Dear Belgian national team,
My name is Ash, I’m 16 years old and I live in Brussels, Belgium. I was born and raised in Belgium and have been a huge fan of the national team my whole life.
A young guy living in Belgium and being born in Belgium being a fan of the Red Devils seems like an obvious point, but I was brought up in a very international family, with my mother being Italian and my father being English.
Growing up in such a multinational family has always been interesting when it comes to international sporting events. Instead of intense rivalries being created during this time however, we try to have a bit of friendly fun with it. To annoy another family member we usually make sure to support the country that England or Italy are playing, and my parents do the same to rile up me and my brother when Belgium are playing. Of course this is all in good spirit and it makes every game at World Cups and European Championships so, so fun to watch.
While my mother’s team Italy will not beat the tournament this winter, my dad’s will, so please make sure that you guys go further than England!
My most memorable moment as a Belgium fan was watching the 2018 FIFA World Cup run on the big screen that was set up in the main square in Brussels. Every time you guys scored - particularly against Brazil in the quarter finals - you could probably hear our cheers and celebrations from miles away. There was such a great sense of community created by your performances at that tournament.
My friends and I are super excited for the tournament, we’ve even started collecting the World Cup stickers and we’re constantly swapping them at school. I want to fill my sticker book this year but, to be honest, I’ll be happy enough if I just fill in the Belgium pages.
This year I’ll likely be watching the tournament at home with my family and friends. The weather probably won’t be good enough to go outside to watch the games like we did during the summer tournaments unfortunately, but this World Cup will still be a great opportunity for me to spend some quality time with my family.
It would be brilliant if you guys could go one better than the last World Cup - when we made the semi final - and go on to the final, which you’ll hopefully win.
If you were to win the World Cup, I’d celebrate in the Grande Place in Brussels with my friends, and I’m sure 90% of the Belgian population will do the same. The atmosphere would be incredible.
I hope you guys have a wonderful time at the tournament, I wish you all the best in Qatar!