When do we play a difficult exhibition match? The Red Devils whirled – especially in the first half hour – over Germany and Kevin De Bruyne was the big engine of the team. He unpacked in this handsome 2-3 victory with two assists and one goal. The grumpy King Kev of the World Cup has completely disappeared. He’s having fun with the national team again.
The atmosphere around/at the Red Devils has completely changed. At the failed World Cup in Qatar, there were tensions and mutual discussions. Remember how Kevin De Bruyne ran around sulky and clashed with Toby Alderweireld. Those were the last throes of the Golden Generation, but two matches after that world championship there is already a new dynamic. The new national coach Domenico Tedesco brought new life.
You can see that in De Bruyne’s smile. He was given the captain’s armband and feels a lot better in Tedesco’s more vertical game. The new youngsters like Onana, Lukebakio and even left back Theate always play forward. Get rid of the slower, more horizontal build-up of Roberto Martinez. We have to be in front of goal as soon as possible.
Duet with Big Rom
That approach resulted in an unparalleled first half hour against Germany. The Belgians reached a top level that they have not reached in recent years and that against a European top country. Captain Kevin was the great metronome. He succeeded in all his dribbles before the break and was ubiquitous. Die Mannschaft heard the thunder in Cologne. It could have been 0-4 after 20 minutes.
It was – luckily for them – limited to 0-2 after 9 minutes and Kevin De Bruyne was the ingenious declarant twice. First, he picked up a Romelu Lukaku coaster to launch Yannick Carrasco. He cut Marius Wolf out and jabbed the leather against the ropes. Three minutes later it happened again. Mangala recovered a ball, De Bruyne put his foot against it and Romelu Lukaku scored his 72nd goal in 106 international matches. Big Rom and King Kev, that remains a great combination: on and off the field.
The Germans simply did not participate. They barely survived the blitzkrieg, also because the Red Devils showed mercy. Dodi Lukebakio did the sprint of his life towards Marc-André ter Stegen, but placed the leather just next to the post. Lukaku hit the crossbar and De Bruyne was wrongly flagged for offside. That could have been his third decisive action of the evening. The German national coach Hansi Flick watched with open mouth. Already after half an hour he decided to replace two midfielders. Goretzka and Wirtz were (so to speak) injured, but most of all they had played football completely redneck. How painful was that?
The home team got a little more foothold with the fresh blood between the lines. The strong Emre Can put De Bruyne and co. more restricted, but the Devils simply also slowed down. When Romelu Lukaku made a handplay at a corner, Füllkrug even scored on a penalty. Could the second half be exciting?
That’s how it looked like for a while. With Alexis Saelemaekers as left back it was much less obvious. Koen Casteels had to intervene a few times and our national eleven came under pressure. In addition, Tedesco also replaced Romelu Lukaku, but Kevin De Bruyne was allowed to stay much longer. A good choice because at the best Belgian counter after the break it was bingo. A well-constructed attack was guided by Trossard to King Kev, who pushed the 1-3 into the corner. Immediately afterwards, he received his well-deserved applause replacement and passed on his captain’s armband to Onana.
Push through at Man City
The architect in Kevin De Bruyne has thus risen again. The freer role he gets from Domenico Tedesco suits him better than Roberto Martinez’s more extensive range of duties. He likes to come to the national team and can now also continue this line at Manchester City. There too, he has 6 goals and 21 assists in 36 games, but his coach Pep Guardiola already stimulated him by saying that he expected more from his group.
The Germans scored the 2-3, but King Kev is ready to face Liverpool with The Citizens and then take on Bayern Munich in the Champions League. Those Germans like him.
