Portugal U21 take on the visitors Belgium U21 in the round 3 match of UEFA Euro U21 group stage. The match will be played on Tuesday, June 27th at Mikheil Meskhi Stadium (Tbilisi).
Portugal represent the so-called "exporting country" in terms of football. However, they have never managed to win the championship at this age level - they have reached the finals, but in 1994, 2015, and even in the previous edition two years ago, they lost. Although in 2021, they had only victories until the decisive match, where they stumbled. In the new qualification, there was one stumble in the form of a draw, despite winning all 9 matches. However, they couldn't bring the optimal lineup directly to the tournament. Gonçalo Ramos, who scored 12 goals, is already actively playing for the senior team, and just before the Euros, after the squad was finalized, they had to exclude Tavares, Diogo Costa, and, most importantly, the "gunner" Fabio Vieira due to injuries. In the championship, the team started against the hosts, Georgia. They might have underestimated them since they conceded twice in the late first half but could only respond with the red card for Tomás Araújo in the 76th minute. After that, they had to secure points against the Netherlands, ideally aiming for a victory. However, after taking the lead in the middle of the first half, they allowed the Dutch to equalize a quarter of an hour before the final whistle. Now they need a victory, and another draw would be fatal.
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Belgium are also seemingly "grown" in a country where clubs are focused on finding and developing young talents and then selling them to top divisions. However, there is also a flip side: the current coach of the national team, Domenico Tedesco, and his predecessors up to Roberto Martinez, actively involve teenagers in their squads. Currently, there is no shortage of stars, from De Ketelaere to Doku, who were born in 2000 or later but have already surpassed the youth team. Despite this, they managed to qualify without a single defeat, with 6 wins and a couple of draws in 8 matches, which allowed them to surpass a strong opponent like Denmark, who fell behind by 3 points. In the Euros, the Belgians immediately faced their neighboring Netherlands in a fairly significant match, which ended goalless. Then there was a game against Georgia, where they quickly took a 2-goal lead by the 34th minute (De Ketelaere scored himself and assisted Ramazani), but allowed the hosts to respond with their own goals, resulting in a 2-2 draw. Perhaps a draw would be enough now, but it is still preferable to win and not rely on Citaišvili and company defeating the Dutch in the parallel match.
At the youth level, the teams played in 2007, at the Euros. That sole match ended in a goalless draw. An intense and quite entertaining game is expected. However, both teams prioritize the result, so betting on "under 2.5 goals scored" seems reasonable.
Prediction for the match: Under 2.5 scored goals.
