FRANCE 98 – Belgium-Rep. of Korea: “We collapsed after the Korean goal”

The BELGIUM coach anticipates major changes

“We are obviously very disappointed. We got off to a good start and then collapsed after the Korean goal. I can’t give you a reason. Perhaps we were under mental stress or perhaps the Koreans played a very relaxed game. Of course, we could have iced the match by scoring a second goal, but we lost control. The key moment of the match occurred when SCIFO (14) was replaced by VAN DER ELST (6). Things went well for twenty minutes but then there was no football any more and we had to find some other solution — nothing was working. We had to find a solution for the midfield, which we weren’t able to do. Our failure was not due to a lack of form, but a lack of balance. After we scored, we just leaned back instead of moving forward. For me, at 1 to 0, we had already lost the match. We feel a major change is needed and I will give a press conference on this matter tomorrow, (Friday 26 June) at 10.00 a.m. at Cailloux sur Fontaines (near LYON).”