Belgium vs. Wales: Winners and Losers from Euro 2016 Qualifier
Belgium and Wales fought out a 0-0 draw in Brussels on Sunday evening in their Group B Euro 2016 qualifying match.
The big draws on either side were Eden Hazard and Gareth Bale, respectively, but neither managed to find the breakthrough despite a handful of chances for both. The result keeps Wales top and unbeaten after four games, while Belgium are down to fourth place, three points off the Welsh with a game in hand.
Here are all our biggest winners and losers from the goalless draw.
Winner: Eden Hazard
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Belgium's biggest threat in the first half was comfortably Eden Hazard, with the wide forward looking to run at the Welsh defence at every opportunity.
His pace and close control saw him drift past three or four defenders at a time, and he created a number of chances to shoot at goal for both himself and his team-mates, driving Belgium forward frequently and keeping the Welsh sat deep inside their own half.
It didn't translate to a goal in the end, but it wasn't for lack of trying. Wales crowded him out at times, and there were not enough team-mates of Hazard's ready to step up and prove as threatening as he was.
Loser: Marc Wilmots
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Belgium boss Marc Wilmots has a host of attacking players at his disposal, but he seems unable to quite get the best out of them.
They looked a little stale and lacking in real momentum going forward during the 2014 World Cup, and that has followed on into the Euro 2016 qualification campaign. Aside from the Andorra match—the group whipping boys—Belgium managed just one goal against Bosnia-Herzegovina and none at all here against Wales.
Admittedly there was a tough defensive rank to get through, but with Dries Mertens, Adnan Januzaj, Eden Hazard, Divock Origi, Christian Benteke and Kevin de Bruyne all on the pitch during the game—and others such as Romelu Lukaku and Moussa Dembele unused—Wilmots shouldn't be needing to resort to aimless, hopeful balls being fired into the box toward Marouane Fellaini to win games late on.
"We did our best tonight—we shouldn't be upset," Wilmots said, per UEFA.com. "We didn't quite do it tonight, but we can do it it next time; five points out of nine it is not a catastrophe. Every team will get points. We played to win and we pushed them back. We tried everything, but to improve we have to take our chances."
Belgium now sit behind Wales, Israel and Cyprus in Group B and cannot afford to fail to win their game in hand.
Winner: Axel Witsel
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Belgium's play might have been lacking in inspiration going forward, aside from when Hazard got the ball, but the midfield was a dominant force—largely thanks to the excellent positioning and on-the-ball play from Axel Witsel.
The Zenit central midfielder received and won back possession with such regularity that Wales found it extremely tough to create any counter-attacking chances of note, while he was also a threat moving into the final third to help find the killer pass.
Witsel was excellent throughout, not flashy but unbeatable on the ball and off it.
Loser: Aaron Ramsey
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Wales performed well defensively throughout, and every player on the pitch put in a tremendous amount of work rate, but that had to be a given to get anything from the game, and more would have been expected from one or two key players going the other way, Aaron Ramsey chief among them.
Ramsey was guilty of giving away possession too often, especially in the second half once the game got more stretched and open through the middle third, and he barely offered anything at all in the final third of the pitch.
The attacking midfielder had minimal impact or link-up with Gareth Bale and the likes of Hal Robson-Kanu, lost out in possession battles in midfield and was far too frequently bypassed when his team tried to counter.
Winner: Chris Coleman
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This was a big victory for Wales manager Chris Coleman: a point at the home of the group favourites, a game which would not have been seen as a "must get a result" when Wales were eyeing up their path to to the finals.
His sturdy and solid back line were well-drilled and responsible on the ball, Wayne Hennessey was commanding in goal and the entire midfield line did a very good job with their positional play, tilting to each side to close out space and making sure Belgium had no easy route to goal.
Sitting top and unbeaten after four matches is the very most Coleman could have hoped for as the Euro 2016 games come to an end this year.
More difficult tests are ahead, including a big game at Israel in March. But right now, Coleman can reflect on a job extremely well done, which has given Wales a huge chance of making their first finals in an absolute age.
