Our prediction for this match:
All eyes will be on Aviva Stadium when Republic of Ireland and Belgium lock horns in an eagerly-awaited international friendly. The Boys in Green aim to make amends for the unsuccessful EURO 2024 qualifying and they are likely to fight tooth and nail against the Oranje. Interim manager John O’Shea has named his squad for the upcoming friendlies, with both Finn Azaz and Jake O’Brien receiving their first call-ups. In-form players Chiedozie Ogbene, Mikey Johnston, Festy Ebosele, and Adam Idah made the cut as well.
The Red Devils, on the other hand, are starting their preparations for this summer’s European Championship finals. The visitors, though, will be without Man City ace Kevin De Bruyne in Saturday’s showdown, which is probably the main reason why we are going to put our money on draw. A man to watch in the visiting team will be Roma attacker Romelu Lukaku, who scored 14 goals in the EURO 2024 qualifiers.
Highlighted Player (Romelu Lukaku):
Romelu Lukaku Bolingoli, born on 13th of ay 1993 is a Belgian player with roots form Congo. Lukaku played for several youth teams before he got picked up by RSC Anderlecht. After playing for only 2 seasons for Anderlecht Chelsea picked him up for around12 million euro.
Lukaku was never able to get a spot in the starting eleven of Chelsea and after playing for WBA he moved to Everton for approximately 35 million euro.Lukaku made his debut in February 2010 by the age of 16 and is one of the youngest players that player for the highest Belgian national team.
The biggest achievement of Lukakui is winning the Eerste klasse in Belgium and the English FA Cup. With his strength and goal scoring abilities Lukaku can be considered as one of the deadliest strikers of the world. Nicknames for Lukaku are Big Rom and the Tank.
Highlighted Team (Ireland):
Competing as an independent entity since 1953, Republic of Ireland have struggled to match the world’s best national teams ever since, although they did achieve several respectable results on the road. Their best ever result, the 1990 World Cup quarter-final, was achieved with a big smile from Lady Luck seeing that the Irish reached the last eight without winning a single match.
They have since reached the last 16 stage at the 1994 and 2002 tournaments, while only qualifying for three European Championship finals (1988, 2012, 2016). The Irish were in the top 10 of the FIFA Rankings in 1993 and 1994, but have failed to repeat the success in the next twenty odd years, and it appears they are no closer to bridging the gap behind European powerhouses.
Robbie Keane holds the record for most national team caps and goals at the same time, having bagged 67 in 143 appearances, whereas Niall Quinn, Steve Staunton, Damien Duff, Tony Cascarino and Don Givens are some of the other star players.