The Deaf Devils have landed back in Belgium since Saturday 25 May.  They failed to qualify for the quarter-finals in a group with Turkey, France and Poland.  Even beforehand, the Deaf Devils knew that they ended up in a tough pool with the 2 top favourites France and organising country Turkey. 

The European Championship took place in warm Antalya, located in the tourist area of Turkey. The Deaf Devils had to play in extremely hot conditions.  Unfortunately, there were also complaints about the hotel, where all teams had to stay at the same time. After a few days, several teams could already see that some players became ill ... fortunately, our team was spared from this anyway. 

The Deaf Devils left with around 18 players under the guidance of Tim Van Landuyt (Trainer-Coach), assisted by Ann Smets (TD Football), Fahritten Melih Ercan (assistant), Ali Salhi (materials manager) and Gert-Jan Vande Velde (physiotherapist). 

Below are some match reports. First they lost against Poland 8-2, then against Turkey 3-1 and finally against France 4-1. 

In this first group match, the Belgians could not surprise against a strong block like Poland. Poland has been doing very well in recent years that could be seen from the result.
Belgium played with a lot of new faces and some experienced players. Yet Poland was too big for our national team. The Belgians played with a lot of courage and commitment, but at this European level you can expect more.

The two Belgian goals came from experienced players Rachid Hamaz & Senne Dierckx.

BEL : Joris Van Roy (keeper), Anton Van Hecke, Ruben Vergote, Jaron Garitte, Florian Pinardon, Joren Dewinne, Rachid Hamaz, Lennert De Rycke, Bilal El Caddouri, Tjorven Bruyneel & Senne Dierckx.
POL : Adam Zurek, Damian Bieniak, Kamil Michalek, Marcin Szymanski, Michal Lysiak, Lukasz Wrobel, Jan Paczynski, Adam Wojewoda, Krystian Nowak, Dominik Fas & Pjotr Barzal.

Goals: 
- 1e mi-temps: 6' Hamaz (1-0), 19' Own-goal Vergote (1-1), 24' Paczynski (1-2), 30' Barzal (1-3), 45+3' Paczynski (1-4, pen.) 
- 2e mi-temps: 49' Wojewoda (1-5), 54' Dierckx (2-5), 62' Paczynski (2-6), 76' Mol (2-7) en 88' Wrobel (2-8). 
 
Replacements: 
46' Charlton Batur for Tjörven Bruyneel and  Jorik Waegeneers for Bilal El Caddouri. 
66' Brent Van Hecke for Joris Van Roy and Elias Bouhout for Joren Dewinne. 
70' Alexis Remy for Anton Van Hecke.  

Yellow cards : 42' Bruyneel, 45+2' Dierckx en 56' Batur. 

Against organising country Turkey, a stronger opponent than Poland was expected.
Nevertheless, the Belgians were able to produce a better team performance. In the 1st half, the Belgians were able to hold out for half an hour against the Turks' high pressure. Still, they went to rest with a 2-0 deficit. In the second half, the Turks were able to increase their lead to 3-0, but after that, the Belgians increasingly took control of the game. Senne Dierckx in particular was able to cause a number of threats. His goal in particular was remarkable: with a nice dribble he was able to free himself in the 16-metre area and finish beautifully in the top left corner of the box.

An encouraging performance, especially after the excessive defeat against Poland ...

BEL : Brent Van Hecke (keeper), Anton Van Hecke, Ruben Vergote, Giovanni Schelstraete, Jaron Garitte, Florian Pinardon (capt.), Joren Dewinne, Charlton Batur, Rachid Hamaz, Lennert De Rycke en Senne Dierckx.
TUR : Ersin Mert (keeper), Emir Han Dogan, Emre Kilinc, Mete Kiliç, Emre Can Dönmez, Ahmet Ergin, Musa Bulut, Mert Ali Ozen, Murat Bek, Ismail Arda Yamaç en Imamettin Sunmez.

Goals
- 1e helft : 31' I. Sunmez (0-1), '35 Ismail Arda Yamaç (0-2).
- 2e helft : 56' A. Ergin (0-3) en 83' Dierckx (1-3).
 
Replacements : 
46' Elias Bouhout for Charlton Batur.
57' Tjorven Bruyneel for Joren Dewinne.   
65' Bilal El Caddouri for Jaron Garitte
82' Soufiane Hadri for Rashid Hamaz.   

France had won their previous matches against Turkey (2-1) and Poland (2-1) and were basically the better team in the pool. The Belgians could not hold out for long as after 20 minutes the French were already at a reassuring 2-0 lead. and were able to continue controlling the match.
Once again Senne Dierckx was able to save the Belgian honour after a nice through pass from Jaron Garitte. Senne coolly finished off.

The European Championship came to an end here for this young inexperienced team.
It now comes down to building up to a new squad over the next four years towards the next European Championship in 2028. Where this will take place has not yet been determined.

BEL : Brent Van Hecke (keeper), Anton Van Hecke, Ruben Vergote, Giovanni Schelstraete, Jaron Garitte, Florian Pinardon (kapitein), Joren Dewinne, Elias Bouhout, Rachid Hamaz, Lennert De Rycke en Senne Dierckx.
FRA : Lukas Labat (keeper), Satya Mendy, Jonathan Machu, Kevin Juliano, Benjamin Brunetta, Antoine Le Bigaut, Maxime Notin, Rafaëlli Kuzehgaran Broujerdi, Fabien Kruker, Remi Oligeri & Theo Bardin.

Goals: 
- 1e half :  9' Antoine Le Bigaut (0-1), 19' Kevin Juliano (0-2, pen), 32' Senne Dierckx (1-2). 
- 2e half :  53'  Antoine Le Bigaut (1-3) en 56' Antoine Le Bigaut (1-4). 
 
Replacements:  
62' Bilal El Caddouri voor Jaron Garitte. 
71' Charlton Batur voor Rashid Hamaz. 
82' Jorik Waegeneers voor Joren Dewinne.
82' Alexis Remy voor Anton Van Hecke.
82' Soufiane Hadri voor Senne Dierckx. 

Yellow cards : 37' Senne Dierckx.  

After the group stage, the quarter-finals are also known as follows: 

Tuesday, 28 May 2024 at 10:00 : England - Turkey = 0-2
Tuesday, 28 May 2024 at 10:00 : Ukraine - Poland = 3-0
Tuesday, 28 May 2024 at 17:30 : France - Greece = 1-0
Tuesday, May 28, 2024 at 17:30 : Germany - Italy = 1-3

Group A, B & C match standings can be found below.

Consolation matches 5th-8th places:

England - Poland = 2-1 (after extensions)
Greece - Germany = 1-5

Semi-finals 1st - 4th place:

France - Italy = 3-0
Turkey - Ukraine = 0-2

Final:
France - Ukraine =

For 3rd and 4th place:
Turkey - Italy = 3-1

For 5th and 6th place:
England - Germany = 2-1

For 7th and 8th place:
Poland - Greece = 3-2