Recap: Kemphanen on international duty
The long international break is over, and it is time for Belgian football again. Quite a few Kemphanen were in action for their national teams over the past few weeks. High time to take a look at how our internationals got on.
Shunsuke Saito was called up to the Japanese national team for the first time. Japan played four matches this international break: two friendlies and the Kirin Cup, a four-nation tournament that is always played in Japan. This year the host nation, Panama, Ecuador and New Zealand took part.
In the first friendly, against Uruguay, which Japan won 3-1, Saito stayed on the bench. Four days later came his long-awaited debut against Venezuela. Japan won 2-1 and Saito started the match. He played the entire first half but stayed in the dressing room after the break.
Saito was also part of the squad for the two Kirin Cup matches, but did not come on. In the semi-final against Ecuador it stayed 0-0 after 90 minutes, after which Japan won the penalty shoot-out 5-4. Japan then won the final against New Zealand 2-1.
Congratulations on your debut, Shunsuke!
- 24/9 Japan – Uruguay: 3-1
- 28/9 Japan – Venezuela: 2-1
- 1/10 Japan – Ecuador (Kirin Cup): 0-0 (5-4 on penalties)
- 5/10: Japan – New Zealand (Kirin Cup): 2-1
Andreas Jungdal – Denmark
Andreas Jungdal was once again part of the Danish national squad. Denmark played four matches in the UEFA Nations League.
The Danes started with a Scandinavian clash against Norway, but lost 3-2 in Oslo. This was followed by a 2-0 win over Wales, the home country of our winger Cameron Congreve. In the third match, Denmark lost 4-2 to Portugal at Parken Stadium in Copenhagen. The Danes finished their international break with a trip to Wales, where they won 1-0. Jungdal stayed on the bench in all four matches. His competitors Mads Hermansen and Filip Jörgensen shared the minutes between them and each played twice. Our Westerlo number one therefore still has to wait for his debut for his country.
Portugal leads the group with 12 points. Denmark follows with 6 points, while Wales and Norway have 3 points each. Wales is in third place thanks to the win in the head-to-head match against Norway.
- 24/9 Norway – Denmark: 3-2
- 27/9 Denmark – Wales: 2-0
- 1/10 Denmark – Portugal: 2-4
- 4/10 Wales – Denmark: 0-1
Cameron Congreve – Wales
Cameron Congreve was once again allowed to join the Welsh national team this international break. The Welsh played four matches in the UEFA Nations League. Congreve now has two caps to his name.
Wales did not get an ideal start to their campaign. The first match, in Portugal with Cristiano Ronaldo in the home side, was lost 1-0. This was followed by a 2-0 away defeat against Denmark. Congreve was on the bench in that match, while he watched the game against Portugal from the stands.
In the third match the Welsh won 2-1 against Norway. Shortly after the break the Norwegians were reduced to ten men after a player brought down a Welshman who had broken through. In the final match Wales faced Denmark again at home, but lost 1-0. Congreve did not play in this match either.
- 24/9 Portugal – Wales: 1-0
- 27/9 Denmark – Wales: 2-0
- 1/10 Wales – Norway: 2-1
- 4/10 Wales – Denmark: 0-1
Lasse Flø Borregaard – Denmark U21
Lasse Flø was also called up to defend the colours of the Danish national team. The Danish U21s were in the same qualifying group as the Young Red Devils in the battle for a ticket to Euro 2027 in Albania and Serbia.
The Danes were first in action this international break against their peers from Belarus. At home they won 2-0. Flø watched this match from the stands. In the second match Denmark travelled to Austria. In Vienna he did start the game and played the full match as left wing-back. The Danes could not get beyond a 1-1 draw. In the decisive final match a clash with the Belgian U21s awaited. As mentioned earlier, that match ended 0-0. Flø stayed on the bench for the entire match.
Because of the draw against Belgium, Denmark missed out on direct qualification for the European Championship. The Danes will still have to try to qualify through play-off matches for the tournament next summer.
- 28/9 Denmark – Belarus: 2-0
- 2/10 Austria – Denmark: 1-1
- 6/10 Denmark – Belgium: 0-0
Min-Hyeok Yang – South-Korea U23
Min-Hyeok Yang was in the South Korean U23 squad for the Asian Games. The winger therefore left for Asia earlier, as the tournament kicked off on 15 September.
South Korea was drawn in Group D with Qatar and Saudi Arabia. In the opening match the South Koreans beat Qatar 4-1. Yang started on the bench and came on after 72 minutes. He also featured against Saudi Arabia. This time he started the match, but his game was over after 54 minutes. With two wins South Korea qualified as group winners for the quarter-finals, where Vietnam awaited. Yang started again, but was replaced at half-time. South Korea made short work of Vietnam and won 4-0. In the semi-final came a clash with China. The South Koreans came out on top. It ended 2-1, but Yang stayed on the bench for the entire match.
In the final, Japan, once again one of the top countries in Asian football, awaited. This time Yang was in the starting line-up and immediately made his mark. He provided the assist for the only goal of the match, making South Korea the winners of the Asian Games. With the victory, South Korea has now won the last four editions of the football tournament at the Asian Games.
Congratulations, Yang!
- 15/9 Qatar – South Korea: 1-4
- 22/9 South Korea – Saudi Arabia: 2-0
- 25/9 South Korea – Vietnam (quarter-final): 4-0
- 30/9 South Korea – China (semi-final): 2-1
- 3/10 South Korea – Japan (final): 1-0
Norman Bassette & Amando Lapage – Belgium U21
Both our top scorer Norman Bassette and defender Amando Lapage were called up by head coach Gill Swerts for the Belgian U21s. The Young Red Devils played three European Championship qualifiers this international break, the first two of them in Westerlo.
On 24 September the Belgians faced Belarus at ’t Kuipje. Bassette started the match and became the match-winner by scoring the only goal of the evening from the penalty spot. The Westerlo striker was taken off to applause in the 92nd minute. Five days later the Young Red Devils, again in Westerlo, took on Wales. That match was also won 1-0. In front of more than 2,000 spectators, Bassette once again scored the only goal. With a lovely backheel he beat the Welsh goalkeeper. It was already his fifth goal of this qualifying campaign. After a little more than an hour his match was over.
The last match of the qualifying campaign took the Young Red Devils to Denmark, where they faced, among others, our Danish right-back Lasse Flø. The stakes were high: the group winner qualified directly for the European Championship. Belgium only needed a draw, while Denmark had to win. In the end it stayed 0-0, meaning the Young Red Devils qualified directly for Euro 2027 in Albania and Serbia. Bassette played 87 minutes. Lapage did not play a single minute during this international break.
Congratulations on the qualification, Norman and Amando!
- 24/9 Belgium – Belarus: 1-0
- 29/9 Belgium – Wales: 1-0
- 6/10 Denmark – Belgium: 0-0
Jahnilo Wiegel Triebel – Suriname
Suriname also played four times this international break, in the Concacaf Nations League. Our goalkeeper Wiegel stayed on the bench in all four matches. Suriname started with a 3-2 win against Honduras and then won 2-1 against Martinique. On 3 October a home match against Guatemala followed, which ended 0-0. Three days later the two countries faced each other again, this time in Guatemala. The Surinamese lost 1-0 there.
- 25/9 Honduras – Suriname: 2-3
- 29/8 Suriname – Martinique: 2-1
- 3/10 Suriname – Guatemala: 0-0
- 6/10 Guatemala – Suriname: 1-0
Naoufal Bohamdi-Kamoni – Morocco U20
Naoufal Bohamdi-Kamoni was called up for the Moroccan U20s. In the first match, against Tunisia, our winger started in the line-up and was substituted after an hour. The match ended 0-0. Three days later he came on ten minutes from time against Morocco and helped secure the 3-1 win. Against Egypt, too, Bohamdi-Kamoni started on the bench. After 72 minutes he came on and helped get the 0-2 win over the line. In the last match, against Libya, he again came off the bench after an hour. Morocco eventually lost that match 3-2.
- 27/9 Tunisia – Morocco: 0-0
- 30/9 Morocco – Algeria: 3-1
- 2/10 Egypt – Morocco: 0-2
- 6/10 Libya – Morocco: 3-2
Reda Laalaoui – Morocco U23
The Moroccan U23s played only once this international break. With Reda Laalaoui in the starting line-up, the Atlas Lions could not get beyond a 1-1 draw in a friendly against Mali. Laalaoui was substituted just under ten minutes before the end.
- 1/10 Morocco – Mali: 1-1
Dino Delic – Oostenrijk U19
- 30/9 Austria – Denmark: 1-0
- 3/10 Netherlands – Portugal: 0-1
- 6/10 Portugal – Austria: 4-0
