Belgium beef up midfield with uncapped Mandela Keita

Belgium beef up midfield with uncapped Mandela Keita

He replaces Hugo Siquet in the only change to last month's 24-man squad.

21-year-old Mandela Keita plays for Belgian champions Royal Antwerp. (Royal Antwerp website pic)
BRUSSELS:
Uncapped Mandela Keita was called up by Belgium today to add bite to the midfield for their European Championship qualifiers against Austria and Sweden this month, coach Domenico Tedesco said today.

The 21-year-old Keita, from Belgian champions Royal Antwerp, replaces Hugo Siquet in the only change to the 24-man squad from last month’s wins over Azerbaijan and Estonia.

Belgium meet Austria in a top-of-the-table clash in Vienna on Oct 13 before hosting Sweden in Brussels three days later.

“We need some physicality in the centre for these two opponents, therefore we have decided (to go) for Mandela,” Tedesco told a press conference today.

The Belgians have captain Kevin De Bruyne and goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois out with long term injuries and Tedesco said he was pleased about top scorer Romelu Lukaku’s return to action at AS Roma.

“He scores, his coach (Jose Mourinho) has confidence in him. That is not only good for Romelu but for us too,” he added.

Belgium are level on 13 points from five matches with Austria at the top of Group F with the Swedes a distant third on six points.

Squad

Goalkeepers: Arnaud Bodart (Standard Liege), Koen Casteels (VfL Wolfsburg), Thomas Kaminski (Luton Town), Matz Sels (Racing Strasbourg)

Defenders: Ameen Al-Dakhil (Burnley), Timothy Castagne (Fulham), Zeni Debast (Anderlecht), Wout Faes (Leicester City), Arthur Theate (Stade Rennes), Jan Vertonghen (Anderlecht)

Midfielder: Yannick Carrasco (Al Shabab), Charles De Ketelaere (Atalanta), Olivier Deman (Werder Bremen), Mandela Keita (Royal Antwerp), Orel Mangala (Nottingham Forest), Amadou Onana (Everton), Youri Tielemans (Aston Villa)

Forwards: Johan Bakayoko (PSV Eindhoven), Mitchy Batshuayi (Fenerbahce), Jeremy Doku (Manchester City), Romelu Lukaku (AS Roma), Dodi Lukebakio (Sevillla), Lois Openda (RB Leipzig), Leonardo Trossard (Arsenal)

Stay current - Follow FMT on WhatsApp, Google news and Telegram

Subscribe to our newsletter and get news delivered to your mailbox.