The Limburg Futsal Red Devils: Thibeau Dochez, Dries Vrancken, Bram Meyers and Benneth Vaelen.
FUTSAL
Belgium deservedly won the Derby of the Low Countries against the Netherlands on Saturday evening: 6-4. The Futsal Red Devils played in front of 1,200 spectators and can expect 3,200 on Sunday evening when they host France.
The friendly three-nation tournament takes place in Caen, in the French region of Normandy. The opening match on Saturday evening pitted Karim Bachar’s team against our northern neighbors. Belgium has already been eliminated from the 2024 World Cup, while the Netherlands still plays play-offs against Finland. “We started the match very strongly and took a 3-0 lead,” said Limburg T2 Carmelo Nieddu. “We had enough chances to even make it 4-0 or 5-0. Unfortunately, against the flow of the game, they fell back to 4-2. After half time we had a hard time and the score became 4-4. After that there was only one team on the field. We had about ten open opportunities that we did not do enough with. In the end they won 6-4. All’s well that ends well, this was well deserved.” Occasional captain Omar Rahou – because Ahmed Sababti (work) was missing – managed a hat-trick.
It was striking that Thibeau Dochez (PIBO Belisia) and Benneth Vaelen (Eindhoven) were not in the competition with minor injuries. Bram Meyers (Roermond) kept the entire match. On Sunday evening (9 p.m.) he will give up his place to Dries Vrancken (FULL Hasselt). That match promises to be an even bigger test. France has qualified for the World Cup in Uzbekistan and can soon count on 3,200 home fans in a sold-out house.
Doelpunten: 4′ Grillo 1-0, 5′ Ouadi 2-0, 11′ Rahou 3-0, 18′ Rahou 4-1, 32′ Rahou 5-4, 37′ Adnane 6-4.