The only national team that was ranked number one on FIFA’s list but never won a single trophy – that is Belgium. Every tournament is a chance for this ‘golden’ generation of talent to prove themselves however stars such as De Bruyne, Hazard, Lukaku, Courtois – always come up short when it matters most. The Nations League – or as the players like to call it ‘a glorified streak of friendlies’ – could be one of the last opportunities for this group of Red Devils to try and win some silverware for their country.Tonight, Belgium will hope to avoid being on the wrong end of another humiliating Nations League defeat when they welcome Poland to Brussels.After going down 4-1 to the Netherlands in their inaugural contest, Belgium need to do much better against Poland who managed to scrape a 2-1 success versus a much-changed Wales side (the Dragons were focused on their World Cup qualifiers).No excitement and no winner between old foes – Germany and England score a goal eachOranje ran riot at the King Baudouin Stadium – a brace from Memphis Depay alongside strikes from Steven Bergwijn and Denzel Dumfries humbled the Red Devils on their own turf. Michy Batshuayi’s late consolation in second-half injury time did not mean much.A “wake-up call” – is what Roberto Martinez called this heavy defeat. Belgium desperately seek to improve their morale before the World Cup and end their days of under-performing in the biggest tournaments.Being fourth-placed in their Nations League at this early stage is hardly a cause for concern, but they must still travel to Cardiff and Warsaw before the month is up, and a record of two wins from their last seven in all tournaments is somewhat alarming.Today’s matches in the UEFA Nations League:League A:🇧🇪Belgium vs Poland🇵🇱🏴Wales vs The Netherlands🇳🇱League B:🇮🇪Ireland vs Ukraine🇺🇦🏴Scotland vs Armenia🇦🇲#NationsLeague pic.twitter.com/R9pjVd0m2x— POPS Football (@popsfootball1) June 8, 2022 As far as the Polish go – Karol Swiderski and Jakub Kaminski both struck as substitutes to turn the tie on its head in the latter stages of the match against the Welsh, thus getting Poland’s World Cup preparations off on the right foot.The world’s 26th-ranked nation heads to Brussels having picked up seven victories from their last 10 matches in all competitions – no surprise given the presence of ever-in-form Robert Lewandowski in the final third.On the other end, the spearhead of tonight’s host and Belgium’s all-time record goalscorer Romelu Lukaku lasted 27 minutes against the Netherlands before twisting his ankle in a collision with Nathan Ake. Martinez admitted after the game that the striker’s condition “did not look good”.👕 Belgium will play against Poland tomorrow in the same kit the women’s team will wear at the EUROs this summer. 🇧🇪The men want to show their support to the recent evolution and growth of women’s football in Belgium. 👏 pic.twitter.com/rstJQGppnZ— Football Tweet ⚽ (@Football__Tweet) June 7, 2022 Joining Thibaut Courtois and Jason Denayer on the withdrawals’ list, Lukaku will seemingly sit out the rest of June’s fixtures. This allows Batshuayi, Leandro Trossard and Dries Mertens to battle for the spot up top.The Spanish manager could also bring in Thorgan Hazard, Yannick Carrasco and Youri Tielemans after that a humbling loss to their neighbours.The Polish roster shines a completely different light when it comes to injuries – Poland came through their opening victory without any fresh concerns to report. Between the sticks, Kamil Grabara earned his debut for the national team but Wojciech Szczesny will expect to return against Belgium. Otherwise, Michiniewicz may be tempted to stick with the majority of players who got the job done against Wales before enforced rotation comes into play.Swiderski will hope to edge out Adam Buksa and Krzysztof Piatek in order to partner up with Lewandowski in the front. Especially after his late heroics last Wednesday.UEFA NATIONS LEAGUEWednesday21.45: (5.20) Wales (3.60) Netherlands (1.80)21.45: (1.65) Belgium (3.80) Poland (6.25)***odds are subject to change
