Hazard Headline Belgium EURO 2016 Squad

Chelsea attacker Eden Hazard headlines Marc Wilmots’ 24-man Belgium squad for Euro 2016, with Manchester City defender Vincent Kompany missing out due to injury.

Nacer Chadli, Kevin Mirallas and Thorgan Hazard have to settle for a place on the standby list, while Steven Defour and Adnan Januzaj miss out altogether.

Wilmots has opted to include one extra defender in his provisional squad due to a number of minor injury problems at the back, with one of the nine defenders called up expected to miss out on the final squad.

Squad in full:

Goalkeepers: Thibaut Courtois (Chelsea), Simon Mignolet (Liverpool), Jean-Francois Gillet (Mechelen)

Defenders: Toby Alderweireld, Jan Vertonghen (Tottenham), Nicolas Lombaerts (Zenit st Petersburg), Jason Denayer (Manchester City, on loan at Galatasaray), Dedryck Boyata (Celtic), Bjorn Engels (Club Brugge), Jordan Lukaku (Oostende), Thomas Meunier (Club Brugge), Thomas Vermaelen (Barcelona)

Midfielders: Axel Witsel (Zenit St Petersburg), Marouane Fellaini (Liverpool), Mousa Dembele (Tottenham), Radja Nainggolan (Roma)

Attackers: Eden Hazard (Chelsea), Kevin De Bruyne (Manchester City), Romelu Lukaku (Everton), Dries Mertens (Napoli), Michy Batshuayi (Marseille), Christian Benteke, Divock Origi (Liverpool), Yannick Ferreira-Carrasco (Atletico Madrid)

Standby: Nacer Chadli (Tottenham), Laurent Ciman (Montreal Impact), Laurens De Bock (Club Brugge), Guillaume Gillet (Nantes), Thorgan Hazard (Borussia Monchengladbach), Kevin Mirallas (Everton), Matz Sels (Gent)

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Hazard Headline Belgium EURO 2016 Squad

Kompany To Miss Euro 2016

Manchester City defender Vincent Kompany has confirmed that he will miss Euro 2016 because of a thigh injury.

The Belgium defender lasted only a few minutes of City’s Champions League semi-final second leg in Madrid on Wednesday before he went down with a thigh problem and was forced off.

It was the latest in a line of frustrating muscle injuries for Kompany, who missed large parts of City’s stuttering season with calf problems.

On Saturday night, he wrote on his Facebook page: “I’ll miss the Euros. To me that’s very sad news.”

Kompany’s future at City – where Pep Guardiola will replace Manuel Pellegrini in the summer – has been questioned by some given his injury woes, but the 30-year-old vowed to return stronger.

“I could be standing here, feeling sorry for myself. I could fear for my career, as others may do. I could give up. That is not me. I decide on my future.”, Kompany added.

The 30-year old has suffered five different injuries this season, appearing in only 22 of City’s 57 matches. He travelled back with City from Madrid, but has since returned to Spain for treatment on his injury

Kompany To Miss Euro 2016

Belgium Attacks: National Team Cancel Training Session

Belgium have cancelled Tuesday’s training session out of respect for the victims of the Brussels attacks.

The national team are scheduled to play Portugal in a friendly at Brussels’ King Baudouin Stadium on 29 March but the fixture is now in doubt.

Several explosions struck Brussels Airport and the metro system, causing at least 13 deaths, Belgian media say.

Belgium have qualified for Euro 2016 in France and are in Group E with Italy, the Republic of Ireland and Sweden.

Belgium Attacks: National Team Cancel Training Session

Nana Asare Returs But Fails To Assist Gent

Ghanaian defender Nana Akwasi Asare made his come back from suspension for table topping Gent on Friday as they handed their title advantage to back to Club Brugge.

The 30 year old centre back returned to the starting XI for the title chasing Gent but could not prevent them from dropping valuable points at home to OH Leuvron in the Belgium Pro League.

Gent came back from a goal down to snatch a point at home to OHL and could end the day behind second place Club Brugge if the latter can get the better of relegation struggling SInt-Tridin.

Belgian forward Leandro Tosaard dented Gent’s title hopes when he opened the scoring for OHL seven minutes into the second half of their clash at the Ghelamco Arena, Gent.

The leaders however responded through a powerful response from Mbark Bousoufa with just over 20 minutes to play but could not find that much needed second goal of the night.

The visitors were later reduced to ten men when Rudy Ria received his marching off orders with six minutes to go.

Gent had a last gap winner disallowed for infringement and now leads the log with just one point ahead of Club Brugge encounter with Sint-Tridin.

A win for Brugge will send the second place side on top ahead of next weekend deciding matches in the last round of matches in the Belgian Pro League.

Nana Asare Returs But Fails To Assist Gent

Newscastle Readies A Summer Plot For Frank Acheampong

English Premiership side Newcastle United is plotting a summer move for highly rated Anderlecht Ghanaian attacker Franck Acheampong.

The £5 million rated forward has been linked with the Toon army all season and has been boosted by recent trip by scout of the St Jame’s outfit in Belgium.

The 22 year old Black Stars wide man has been a revelation this season for his third place Anderlecht with his pace and tricks for the title chasing side in Belgium.

Acheampong endured an indifferent start to the season but has found his feet just at the appropriate time for the third place Anderlecht with 5 goals in his last seven matches including a brace in their UEFA Europa league triumph away to Olympiacos.

The speedy winger has since managed a return of 6 goals in his 26 appearances for the Pro League side in Belgium.

His arrival will increase the Ghanaian contingent in the premiership to seven after the recent arrival of Daniel Amartey.

Acheampong has since managed 13 goals in his 104 appearances for Anderlecht since his arrival at the start of the 2013/14 European season.

Anderlecht remains six points adrift of table topping Club Brugge and Gent, both sides on 58 points with just two matches to end the season.

Newscastle Readies A Summer Plot For Frank Acheampong

Bechem United Part Ways With Belgian Coach

Premier League club, Bechem United, have parted ways with their Belgian coach, Erradi Adil, less than two weeks after engaging him.

The former FC Brussels trainer, was engaged to enhance the chances of the club in the premiership and develop young talents but has fallen out of favour with the club due to his hostile temperament.

Inside sources said that the UEFA License A holder was making outrageous demands and having petty quarrels with other staff of the club.

“He fights with the players all the time and had a problem with everybody, even the team manager who is a very quiet and respectable man, was not spared”. The source said.

The source said Adil was not satisfied with anything and his character was causing problems for the team which made the club to pay him off to return to his native country and to avoid creating any further problems.

CEO of the club, Kingsley Owusu Achau, confirmed the coach was no longer with them but refused to give details about the decision to sack the coach.

He said the local coaches including Solomon Odowo, Osei Wire and others were in charge of the club for now until a new manager is engaged.

Bechem United Part Ways With Belgian Coach

Inspirational Nana Asare Reinstate Gent To The Top Spot In Belgium.

Ghanaian defender Nana Akwasi Asare revived the ailing title hopes of Gent as they returned to the top spot in Belgium.

The 30 year old centre back powered Gent past Mouscoron to go three clear points of Clubbe Brugge with four games to go.

Gent, saw their six point lead at the top of the Belgium top flight vanished like magic spray and has been relegated to the second spot in the crucial title run in.

The ace defender lasted the entire 90 minutes for the unconvincing Gent at home to Mouscoron in a hard fought 2-0 win.

Nana Asare proved pivotal at both ends of the pitch as he added attacking responsibilities to his defensive contribution.

Gent needed two very late goals in the last five minutes to ease their way past an unfortunate and a spirited Mouscoron side that played the last four minutes with 10 men after the dismissal of Noe Dussle on 86.

Belgian giant forward Mbark Bousoufa opened the scoring on 85 minutes before a 90th minute powerful strike from Daniel Millisevic returned Gent to the top of the log ahead of Brugge trip to Oostende on Sunday.

Inspirational Nana Asare Reinstate Gent To The Top Spot In Belgium.

Ben Tetteh Pumped Up After Sealing Belgium Cup Finals With Standard Liege

Standard Lierge Ghana Youth International Benjamin Tetteh has expressed his excitement after booking his first ever Professional Cup finals in Belgium.

The 21 year old forward starred for his Belgium paymasters as they shook off Genk to book a final show down with Club Brugge.

The former Dreams FC attacker is relishing the prospect of laying his hands of his first ever professional silverware when they clash with the championship chasing Club Brugge later in the season.

Benjamin Tetteh came on as a second half substitute for Standard in their second leg of the semi finals for his ninth appearance of the season but is already dreaming of winning the ultimate trophy with Standard.

The Black Satellites striker highlighted the global appeal of the Cup winner’s medal and the need to start his Standard career with the league Cup trophy.

“I am very very happy after our win in the semi finals. This is my first year in Europe and my first cup final as well. It actually means a lot to me as a player.”

“It will be a dream to play in the Belgium Cup finals as a young player.” Benjamin Tetteh told sports crusader.

Tetteh joined Standard from Kweiman based then division one side after an impressive outing for the Ghana national U20 side in the 2015 FIFA World Youth Championship in New Zealand.

Ben Tetteh Pumped Up After Sealing Belgium Cup Finals With Standard Liege

Ghanaian defender Nana Akwasi inspired Gent back to the top of the Belgian league after a heavy win away to Standard Lierge.

The experience defender lasted the entire duration of the match in a landslide 0-3 away triumph to Standard.

Gent usurp Anderlecht back to the top of the league as they draw closer to the ultimate trophy.

The former Utrecht centre back capped an involving 90 minutes for his all conquering Gent side with an early goal line clearance after a sustained pressure from Standard.

The veteran centre back kept his side in the game in the first quarter of the tie before Laurent Deportre shot Gent into a 49th minute lead.

Further goals from Sven Kums and Brecht Dejaegere deflated the egos of an unlucky Standard Liege side that has themselves to blame.

The resounding 0-3 thumping projected Gent back to the top of the division, two points clear of the second Anderlect.

Nana Asare could be heading for a double at the end if the season if Gent can build on their first leg semi final advantage and sustain the league momentum with seven matches to go.

Ruthless Bwana Samatta lands lucrative Genk switch

Tanzania international and TP Mazembe forward Bwana Ally Samatta has been rewarded with a lucrative offer from Belgian side RKC Genk.

The reigning top scorer in the 2015 CAF Champions league single handedly dragged his Congolese giants to a fifth continental glory with his eight impressive goals.

The 23 year old forward has been tipped to emulate the feat of Trezor Mputu Mabizela with Mois Katumpe Chapwre’s side but the financial muscle of Genk might be too seductive for the young attacker to reject. This will come as further set back for TP Mazembe as Solomon Asante nears the exit door as well.

Samatta stormed the 2015 CAF Champions league in a ruthless manner highlighted by his man of the match performances in both legs of the final showdown with USM Algiers.

The Tanzania international inspired his colleagues to hammer their spirited Algerian side in a 4-1 landslide win on aggregate.

The predatory instincts of Samatta will come handy for the mid table side as they look to seal an European slot at the end of the season.

TP Mazembe fended off competition from North African giants to cling onto their prized asset but move to Belgium now looks imminent.

He will be tasked with overturning the ailing fortunes of the Belgium side in a dreadful start to the season.

The exit of the club’s goal machine look set to open the door for the possible arrival of Berekum Chelsea Owusu amidst contractual differences. The 2015 FCPPL top scorer racked in 19 goals to confirm his attacking prowess on the continent.

Ruthless Bwana Samatta lands lucrative Genk switch