WC football | EXTRA LIVE: Belgium does not have a team at the World Cup. I experienced it with the Czech national team, recalls Šmicer

The Belgians are under enormous pressure. For years they have been talking about the fact that they have a golden generation of players in the national team. But great success in the form of winning a major tournament did not and did not come. Everything indicates that the Belgian dream will not come true even at the World Cup in Qatar. National team coach Roberto Martínez admits to a tense atmosphere.

“There are contradictions in the cabin,” he admitted. The media also mention specific cases when things don’t work out between the players. “Kevin De Bruyne and Thibaut Courtois haven’t spoken to each other in years. Neither Michy Batshuayi nor Romelu Lukaku are definitely friends. Eden Hazard and Leandro don’t speak to each other either Trossard,” writes the French L’Equipe.

During his rich career, Šmicer experienced what it is like when the team does not step and pull together. He remembers the Czech national team’s unsuccessful bid to qualify for the 2002 World Cup, where the Czechs failed to win two duels with Belgium. “There were problems in the team then. We all wanted to do it, but it just wasn’t possible anymore,” recalls the Champions League winner with Liverpool about the moments when the Czech footballers did not manage the key duels for the World Cup and did not fight for the championship. The relations between the players and between the footballers and the media were strained.

Belgium will have their last appearance in Group F on Thursday, when their opponent will be Croatia. The star-studded team go into the match in third place, a point behind Croatia and Morocco. “The Belgians don’t have the right form. It has to be worked on, it has to be built. If you train well, football will reward you and form will come. But Belgium clearly has a problem in the team,” observes Šmicer.

Big name players alone are not enough to succeed. If it was based on the star nomination, Belgium would not have a problem. “When those players are in shape, they certainly have what it takes in football, but now they are in a state where it doesn’t work for them on the pitch. You can feel that there is discomfort and I can’t put it together on command,” he adds, adding that he would still like Belgium to slip into the next phase of the championship at the expense of Morocco.