BELGIUM PROFILE: Not the most exciting team at the finals, nor the most glamorous, Belgium can still aim for a passage through the group stages, believes Paul Doyle

Those who complain Europe has too many teams in the tournament tend to point to Belgium to back up their argument. But though they’re unlikely to charm the planet next summer, the boys from Brussels are not as bad as some say. Their starman, Emile Mpenza, hasn’t been doing much charming at all recently, having been suspended by Schalke 04 for his "unprofessional" attitude. Whatever he did, Mpenza must have really rubbed the German club’s coach, Huub Stevens, up the wrong way, because his scoring record for the club is excellent, and dropping him clearly hurt their championship challenge.

His record for Belgium is impressive too, 11 goals for 33 caps, particularly because he has to carve out most of his chance for himself: his speed and skill make him a slippery customer, and the strength of his shooting means defenders have to handle him with the utmost care.

Mpenza’s partner at international level is the same man who occasionally partners him at Schalke, Marc Wilmots. Wilmots is a competent player and so is his main rival for the slot alongside Mpenza, Vitesse Arnhem’s Bob Peeters.

Belgium are another of the tournament’s teams which have a midfield famed for its force rather than its flair. Bart Goor is probably the best of them, his determined running often getting him into positions to cross or shoot, but Yves Vanderhaeghe, Gert Veheyen, and Didier Dheedene are far from disgraceful.

Sad tidings, though, for clown-lovers: crazy Filip de Wilde is no longer coach Robert Waseighe's first-choice goalkeeper. Geert de Vlieger and Danny Gaspercic have both met the not-very-demanding criteria of being more reliable than de Wilde, whose booboos at Euro 2000 were Belgium’s only entertaining contribution to the tournament they hosted.

Up against Tunisia, Russia, and Japan, Belgium may well batter their way into the next round, meaning the europhobes will have to find another country to pick on.

Squad:

Goalkeepers
1-Geert De Vlieger (Willem II Tilburg/Ned), 23-Frederic Herpoel (Gent), 13-Franky Vandendriessche (Mouscron)

Defenders
3-Glen De Boeck (Anderlecht), 2-Eric Deflandre (Lyon/Fra), 15-Jacky Peeters (Gent), 16-Daniel Van Buyten (Marseille/Fra), 12-Peter Van der Heyden (FC Bruges), 5-Nico Van Kerckhoven (Schalke 04/Ger) 4-Eric Van Meir (Standard Liege)

Midfielders
21-Danny Boffin (St Truiden), 17-Gaetan Englebert (FC Bruges), 8-Bart Goor (Hertha Berlin/Ger), 6-Timmy Simons (FC Bruges), 19-Bernd Thijs (Genk), 18-Yves Vanderhaeghe (Anderlecht), 11-Gert Verheyen (FC Bruges), 14-Sven Vermant (FC Bruges), 10-Johan Walem (Standard Liege), 7-Marc Wilmots (Schalke 04/Ger)

Forwards
22-Mbo Mpenza (Mouscron), 20-Branko Strupar (Derby/Eng), 9-Wesley Sonck (Genk)