Royal reception as the Red Devils return

Belgium’s national football team returned to home soil yesterday to a welcome from airport fire crews, a reception from the King and a brief public appearance in celebration of their exploits in the World Cup in Brazil, which ended with the side being eliminated by Argentina in the quarter-finals.

“If we had stepped out of the aircraft with the World Cup in our hands, then we would have laid on a party on a huge scale,” said Football Union spokesperson Stefan Van Locke. “But we were put out in the quarter-final, which is a perfectly respectable result but no reason for major festivities. We’re now going to the royal palace, in Brussels not in Laken, and anyone who is there can see the players.”

As the plane carrying the Belgian delegation taxied at Zaventem, it was greeted by two of the airport’s fire trucks, which proceeded to hose the aircraft down, in a rarely performed honour ceremony known as baptism, normally restricted for the retirement of a pilot or the christening of a new aircraft. The delegation was welcomed at the gate by the full staff of Brussels Airlines, as well as prime minister Elio Di Rupo.

In Brussels, the squad was received by the King and Queen and posed for a photo in the palace garden, with coach Marc Wilmots taking place of honour by the King’s side, and team captain Vincent Kompany next to Queen Mathilde.

The members of the squad then stepped out on to the square in front of the palace where hundreds of fans had gathered. “I want to thank everyone in the name of the whole team and the whole staff,” Kompany told the gathering, speaking in Dutch and French. “You were fantastic, and above all we did it for you. I hope we can share many more wonderful moments together in the future. Whatever may happen, I hope we stay together,” he said.

Wilmots then recalled the slogan of the campaign: All together. “Perhaps the best thing we’ve achieved is to have gathered the entire population behind the national team, and I want to thank you all.”

The football union itself may have underestimated the strength of feeling of fans, chairman François De Keersmaecker admitted. “You read about it and you hear about it there in Brazil, but we weren’t experiencing it for ourselves, all the amazing things that were happening here while we were out there,” he told VTM News. “On the one hand there’s a huge pride in what we achieved, but on the other hand there’s some disappointment.

The Red Devils’ elimination is one of the reasons for a sudden upsurge in last-minute bookings for holiday flights, a spokesperson for Jetair said. Some would-be holidaymakers clearly postponed any booking so long as the side remained in the competition, but the elimination, with the present inclement weather, has led to a sudden flood of bookings, Hans Vanhaelemeersch told the VRT. 

Photo by Eric Danhier/City of Brussels