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But although Reina could not pinpoint specific
tips for success, Mertens said Belgium must show the hunger and
desire that Spain did in winning the World Cup in 2010, as well
as back-to-back European Championships in 2008 and 2012.
“Pepe told me he couldn’t give me any concrete tips. He just
said they had a young group that were hungry for success and
also had a bit of luck along the way,” he told reporters as
Belgium continued their World Cup preparations.
“We also need to show that hunger. We always have had it tough
against the top teams. Just look at the friendly against Spain
(in September 2016) where they played us off the park.
“We learnt we must not be afraid and we have to always go at
full tilt.
“After we came back from losing the Euro 2016 quarter-final to
Wales, there was a lot of pain. We had not realized that every
match could be our last and that we had to put everything into
it to go on to the next stage. But that realization is there now
and that we have to be a lot harder in our approach.
“We are not always strong in possession but in transition we
have quality. Our greatest strength is to press with power and
turn over the ball. The stamp of coach (Roberto) Martinez is now
more visible.
"Under (previous coach) Marc Wilmots we played mostly man on
man, but now we work together to put pressure on the opponent. I
think that makes a big difference,” Mertens added.
Belgium play the first of three warm-ups in Brussels on Saturday
against Portugal, followed by matches against Egypt and Costa
Rica.
At the World Cup they are in Group G with Panama, Tunisia and
England.
(Reporting by Mark Gleeson in Johannesburg; Editing by David
Holmes)
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