Roberto Martinez is a man of his word. Ahead of Euro 2020, he promised that he would sit down with ESPN to do a lengthy interview. After Belgium booked their spot in the Round of 16 – they face Portugal on Sunday, we talked for over half an hour as they dissected their team and reflected on the unique circumstances surrounding this competition. He was smiling a lot too, because there is something special between us, mostly because of the rivalry between France and Belgium.
When I wished him the best of luck for the rest of the tournament, he answered correctly: "I'm not sure you mean that, Jules!" Of course, he is right. Martinez is often right.
It's also fascinating to hear him talk about football and about the players. He and his Belgian team have gone through a lot in the past few months and in the two weeks since the Euros officially started. You can see how much he loves and cares for them the way he talks about them.
Above all, Martinez, 47, is very attached to Belgium. The Catalonia man has been the team's head coach for five years, replacing Mark Wilmots after Euro 2016, and has brought a new dynamic to the team, along with a real structure to the whole operation. When he talks about Belgium as a country, he says, "We." Their commitment, passion and desire has inspired the team, and they may now be on the verge of greatness and their first major trophy. If he delivers it, he'll deserve a statue in Brussels, not far from the iconic Manneken Pis.
For now, they will surely reach the knockout stage with a lot of appetite and speed. And ambition too, even if for him, England are the favorites to win it all. Before thinking about the finals, Martinez talks about some of his star players, the importance of a football DNA in your team, learning from past disappointments, the effect of fans returning to the field and a very open tournament called Is impossible ...
Now that you have a few days to reflect on the first part of the competition, what have you made of your team so far?
We have been together for 27 days and the dynamics are really strong. The players have been doing a fantastic job. We got to play twice in St Petersburg and once in Copenhagen and being able to play in front of the fans again has been a really great experience.
Belgium was clinical against Russia, excellent in the second half against Denmark, following the entry of Kevin De Bruyne, and was in control against Finland. Do these performances satisfy you?
Yes. As you know, at the international football level, it's very hard to get a synchronized exposure that everyone has a real understanding of what we're trying to do. We got it and it's been really positive. You can see a real continuity in this group. We have been together for five years, and within the squad there is a real information - it is always pleasant.
We were flexible with our approach to these games, and we seemed like a proper team.
Looks like your team is going from strength to strength by now.
I agree with you We are getting stronger. I think in any tournament, you really have two tournaments in one. There's a group stage and you need to use those three games to better prepare you all. Then you have the knockout stages, which is a separate tournament in itself. I agree with your analysis and our performance, but it's also important to me that I was able to use 22 outfield players in these three games.
I think it's always important that everyone in the competition gets their start and gets emotions out of the way. Now, they are ready to help with this in any way they can, and I think that's a big plus and a big factor. It's really rare that the team that starts the tournament for you is the one that finishes it.
One of your key players, as expected, is Romelu Lukaku. But this is a different Lukaku than we usually see at the club level.
With Romelu, we always talk about his individual talent. He was born with this ability to score goals and if you see, his stats reflect it. The number of goals he has scored for each team is quite extraordinary. However, what we're talking about right now is a different player. Now we are talking about a player who puts a real degree of maturity on top of his individual talent.
I know him well since I signed him for Everton when I was 19, but these days he is a completely different person and a different footballer. He can influence others. You can set different pressing modes, different modes of play, and he will execute them perfectly. And that's probably the difference I've noticed over the last 12 to 13 months, and maybe a little longer.
Going to Inter was the right move at the right time, with a perfect coach, with a perfect dream of winning a Serie A title, and I think it has developed Lukaku to a level that is, for me, in his career. is the best. .
Does he still find ways to surprise you?
You need to see how Lukaku starts the tournament, with a real decisive game in his way of looking at the opposing goal, but then in that tactical set-up you have to perform all tasks with responsibility and maturity. need to. To me - and you know I'm biased, Jules - he's the best striker in the world.
Obviously, I understand that I worked with him every day, I see how he commits himself to this profession. I see how he always wants to improve. He always wants to be heard, and that's what makes him a special footballer.
You missed De Bruyne in the first group game because of an injury during the Champions League final. [De Bruyne broke his nose and eye socket in a collision with Chelsea defender Antonio Rudiger.] How did you feel when you saw him come out that day?
It was a worrying time. The Champions League final arrived, and as you know, Kevin never comes on the field and never goes on the field unless it's a big issue and that day, it's heartbreaking to see him take off. Was about to He had been trying hard for a long time to be in a game of that magnitude and unfortunately, he could not finish it. But that focus and the desire to come back to full fitness and come back to help the team felt really good.
To me, De Bruyne is the best playwright in world football. His ability to read the game, play the game with an appreciation of time and place is unparalleled and that is why I have always felt that he is a candidate for Ballon d'Or every season.
Have you ever doubted his return?
No, I am happy with the adversity they faced. I think he is a great example in life. Not everything goes according to plan and when you face adversity, it matters how you face it and turn it around. Kevin did it, and now we are all benefiting from it.
The adversity was intense even for Axel Witsel, after he ruptured his Achilles ligament in January. Still you called him. It was a big gamble. Why is he so important to you?
There are some situations where you have two or three players to choose from. Every national team has it. And then you have players who, in Axel's case, you can't replace. You can of course find other solutions, other partnerships or ways to play, but in Belgian football, you can't convert Vitsel like-for-like. It's because of his experience (over 100 caps), the way he plays and the incredible balance he gives you.
I don't think there was any risk to call him because I could trust his character. After his surgery in January, he moved to a flat in Antwerp and worked there for three sessions a day to recover. It has been a long and lonely five months for him. But if he comes back so soon, it is because he has worked so hard.
I had no doubt that Vitsel would be ready. What I had never seen was that he would be drawn so quickly, as it was never on the cards for him to play against Denmark. It's just that he made such good progress. Axl's character made the decision to take him to the Euros very easy.
You had another long-term injury with Eden Hazard. But now he looks fit too. Should you be relieved?
It has been a process with Eden. I must admit that I was worried about him because he was not enjoying his life. Her body wasn't reacting the way it had reacted in the past 15 years, and that's hard. When you are an injured player, you are used to facing a body that can break at any time. But that is not Eden. He never worried about injury when he was playing in France. He missed only 20 games in eight seasons in the Premier League, one of the most demanding physical leagues in the world.
When I saw Eden last March, he was very sad and sad. And from that point on, I think he started working with a real incentive to be happy again and maybe over time, we've been lucky.
Did you ever doubt his return?
Against Finland for the first time I have seen Eden happy and enjoying his football for a long time. And when Eden is happy, we are a much better team. November, 2019 was the last time he played 90 minutes for the national team, so you can imagine we had to wait a long time.
We saw in the match against Denmark that you struggled in the first half especially because of the fans. Why?
First of all, you need to understand that this was the first time we played in front of a full crowd for 14 months. Soccer players are creatures of habit, and it's almost as if we were shocked because the pace in the Denmark match was exceptional. I felt that the crowd synced with their entire team, which allowed them to take that extra risk and be able to push that extra yard. They stopped us from playing and we found it very difficult to be ourselves. However, we had to show real resilience, as we made an early mistake and conceded a target.
I have seen this [45-minute stop] many times. One goal becomes two and three goals and before you know it, when you want to react, it is too late. So it's a real positive lesson that we got out of that first half, but mind you, it's a whole game. It is true that Denmark was better than us in the first half. We were better in the second half, but overall we were better because we won the match.
How did you experience Christian Eriksson's cardiac arrest?
If I may paint the picture a bit, we were all watching the game together, Denmark vs Finland, from St Petersburg as we were preparing for our match against Russia. And five minutes before our meeting is the moment Christian fell.
Everyone was shocked. The last thing you wanted to do then was talk about football and how to win a football match. It was so difficult. The feelings were really strong. I have to admit that we were just focused on trying to get the good news. We only waited to hear that Christian had responded well to treatment. We were relieved when we found out that he was fine. Until that time, it was all very uncertain.
Then you saw a wonderful message, which was: Christian Eriksson is football, his life is football and he was doing what he loved. He was lucky that he was playing and he fell during a football game where he got all the help and care he needed, because it happened while he was playing with the kids in the park, probably he She wouldn't have got help. So it's nice to see that the medical protocol worked out so well and he survived doing the work he loves most. He brought football together.
Would you have been pleased with the way the game turned against the Dane in that second game?
For me, Denmark was a game we needed. It was a game that allowed us to react, show our best side and face adversity in the best possible way. We've learned that when you don't do your best, you can minimize losses because our team always has so much talent that it takes very little to score a goal.
We have to be able to react. You can never be perfect for 90 minutes. You can never expect to dominate the full 90 minutes as you play against international footballers and other teams that want to win just like that. What matters, however, is that over the course of 90 minutes, you find the solution and you don't let the pace hurt too much.
We were not surprised by Denmark's win over Russia as the momentum the home crowd can create is very impressive. We saw this with Hungary as well. Most of the players have been taken by surprise by that margin of crowd. We haven't seen it in a long, long time.
Will the players have to recuperate now that the fans are back in the stadium?
Absolutely. Playing in empty stadiums was very different and I think as a player, you have to focus on yourself and that intrinsic motivation has to be 100% in every action. Then, obviously, communication became a huge force because you could hear everyone. You can be trained directly at any moment of the game.
Now, suddenly we are back in full crowd. Communication is very hard, you need to pass messages in a different way. You need to understand as a team and as a player that the crowd can play in both penalty areas. I think the adaptation period will be very important in this tournament. You have teams that play three games at home in the group stages: England can play six out of seven games at Wembley [if they reach the final]. It really makes it a different journey.
Which other team has influenced you?
Many teams have been impressive. If I had to highlight any one, it would be Italy because they use that whole pace very well. We were talking about the effect of the home crowd, and playing [their group games] in Rome has been really important for them. Roberto Mancini has been working with this team for a long time and you can see that they work like a club team.
Now, we are going to learn more about each team. There are going to be many twists and turns. Depending on where you play, there are going to be big performances and less if you are in a neutral venue or in front of your fans. I think we're going to get a very inconsistent tournament by this point.
And open a lot?
Absolutely. England, to me, is still the big favourite. They are playing every game at home. You know when games are tight in the knockout stage, playing at home is a big advantage. After that a lot of small factors will decide the game on that day. I don't think this is a tournament you can predict. I think this is a tournament where you need to see which team is more prepared to expect the unexpected and for that reason, I think it is very difficult to call.
France and Belgium may meet again in the semi-finals, as they did in 2018. Do you and your players have vengeance?
Not necessary. I know it can look like it obviously from the outside. I think we are desperate to use that 2018 semi-final to our advantage. Not because it was France, but I think every time you lose a semi-final or a big match in a big tournament, it makes you a different team. France is the team they are now as they lost the 2016 Euro final against Portugal in Paris.
We are a different team even after losing in the semi-finals of 2018. We are trying to defeat that sentiment. Not necessarily against France. We want to learn to be a better team from that semi-final, and I think the feelings we had that night will help us in this tournament.
Do you think you need to change your approach to beat teams like France? To be more efficient, maybe, and be less of a free-flowing team?
We need to be very firm with what we believe in. The DNA of this generation of Belgium is individual talent. We want to capitalize on this talent by taking risks, taking the ball and being the attacking team. I don't believe that a certain style of play helps you win the game. I think, being very, very good at your style helps you win games and I think that's what we're trying to do, try to be better on the ball and with the ball.
I don't think we want to lose the identity of this generation because I think this generation is going to influence the next generations to come in Belgian football. We are a small nation of 11 million people: we need to operate with a very clear vision, and vision is a very important DNA in our football. Whatever this generation does will have a big impact on the future.
How much does winning this Euro mean to Belgium, to the players and to you?
Let's see. We have to beat Portugal first in the last 16 at Sevilla. What do I always tell you? Always go game by game, step by step!