Jackie Matthiessen made only one change in his starting lineup to face Portugal on the third day of Group A of the European Under-21 Football Championship, Tuesday (6:00 pm Belgium time) at the Mikheil Meskhi Stadium in Tbilisi. Elliot Matazzo will start in midfield instead of Mandela Keita.
The other ten players started the match against Georgia (2-2) last Saturday. Goalkeeper Martin Vandevoordt will find in front of him a back four formed from right to left by Hugo Seckett, Zino Debast, Connie de Winter and Maxime De Cuyper. Matazzo will take charge of the midfield with captain Aster Franks. Larji Ramazani, Charles De Kittilari and Michel Ange Balikwecha will play in support of striker Luis Obinda.
On the other hand, former Anderlecht player Fabio Silva is at the forefront of the Portuguese attack. The Seleção Under-21 team will feature Selton Peay in goal. Jose Carlos, Alexandre Pinetra, Andre Amaro and Nuno Tavares will form the back four. The trio consisting of Joao Neves, Thiago Dantas and Samuel Costa will take charge of the midfield. Fabio Silva will be joined in attack by Francisco Conceicao, son of former Standard player Sergio Conceicao, and Pedro Neto.
Two days later, Belgium has two points, as does the Netherlands, which challenges surprising leaders Georgia with 4 points. Portugal is one point behind. The top two teams qualify for the quarter-finals.
The success, which would be the Belgians' first at the UEFA European Under-21 Championship since 2007, would qualify Diablotin. Defeat would mean elimination. A draw might be enough, but in this case, it will be necessary either for Georgia to beat the Netherlands, or for this match to end in a draw and for the Belgians to finish this stage with more goals than the “Oranges”.
The match will be refereed by Frenchman Willy Delagude.
