Belgium captain Vincent Kompany says the Red Devils will show they have “fire in the belly” for the battle at Euro 2016 this summer.
Marc Wilmot’s side are currently the top-ranked international team in the world on FIFA’s rankings and they will travel to France hoping to prove their status.
Alongside Kompany, stars such as Eden Hazard, Kevin de Bruyne, Thibaut Courtois and Romelu Lukaku are ensuring this is being labelled as something of a ‘golden generation’ for Belgian football.
Belgium reached the last-eight at the World Cup in Brazil two years ago and Kompany says they will be more than willing to scrap for success this summer.
The Manchester City centre back insists the Belgians were happy to be drawn to face Republic of Ireland in Group E as many of their players also play club football in England.
The Irish are renowned for grit and determination in their performances and Kompany says Belgium will match them.
“We loved it [the draw] because obviously a lot of Irish players play in the Premier League, a lot of the Belgium players play in the Premier League,” Kompany told RTE.
“And as much as Ireland is known for having fire in the belly, I think we are too. We’re just looking forward to it, it’s going to be brilliant.”
Belgium will be making their first appearance at the European Championship Finals since they co-hosted the tournament with Holland in 2000.
They face Italy in their opening game in Lyon on June 12 before tackling the Irish in Bordeaux five days later.
Belgium are 11.00 to win Euro 2016 while Wilmots’ side are 2.30 to start with victory over Italy.
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