Gibraltar v Belgium Preview: Ready for the Belgian Red Devils

At the press conference on Sunday. Pics: Johnny Bugeja 

Gibraltar FA and veterans follow the press conference. 

Gibraltar arrived in Portugal this weekend ready to take on the mighty Belgian Red Devils today.

Belgium come into the match unbeaten in Group H having beaten their closest rival Bosnia Herzegovina 4-0. A quick-fire Spahic own goal and Hazard strike put Belgium 2-0 up before break. This was followed by Alderweireld's cheeky flick and Romelu Lukaku's deflected drive to make it 4-0.

Gibraltar for their part come at the back of a 4-0 defeat against Estonia after having maintained a clean sheet during the first half. Once again a chaotic start to the second half with disastrous response to going behind saw their opponents take advantage of Gibraltar’s vulnerabilities and mistakes.

The match to be played in Faro, Portugal, Gibraltar’s home away from home, will be officiated by Polish referee Pawel Raczkowski . He will be assisted by Michal Obukowicz and Tomasz Listkiewicz, with the fourth official being Tomasz Musial also from Poland.

This will be the first time Gibraltar meets Belgium in an official international match. The match sees the return of Scott Wiseman who was not available for the match against Estonia. Gibraltar also had Deren Ibrahim available as a goalkeeper. Deren is the only untested keeper available in the 23 man squad and is considered by many as a possible replacement for Jordan Perez following his performance against Estonia.

The match also sees the first time a Spanish manager in charge of a team against Gibraltar with Roberto Martinez at the helm of Belgium.

The match will see some former Gibraltar national players present as guests of the GFA. Several coach loads of supporters have also made their way to Portugal to watch the match.

Gibraltar 23 man squad

GOALKEEPERS

1                              Jordan Perez

13                           Jamie Robba

23                           Deren Ibrahim

DEFENDER

2                              Scott Wiseman

3                              Joseph Chipolina

5                              Ryan Casciaro

6                              Roy Chipolina

12                           Jayce Mascarenhas-Olivero

14                           James Bosio

15                           Erin Barnett

20                           Jean-Carlos Garcia

MIDFIELDER

4                              Ashley Rodriguez

8                              Aaron Payas

9                              Kyle Casciaro

10                           Liam Walker

11                           Jeremy Lopez

17                           Anthony Bardon

19                           Jamie Coombes

FORWARD

7                              Lee Casciaro

16                           Robert Montovio

18                           Adam Priestley

21                           Robert Guiling

22                           Michael Yome

Belgium Squad

GOALKEEPER

Thibaut Courtois                               1

Simon Mignolet                                12

Matz Sels                             13

DEFENDER

Toby Alderweireld                           2

Nicolas Lombaerts                           3

Christian Kabasele                           4

Jan Vertonghen                                5

Thomas Meunier                             15

Jordan Lukaku                   21

Laurent Ciman                   23

MIDFIELDER

Axel Witsel                         6

Yannick Carrasco                              7

Marouane Fellaini                            8

Eden Hazard                       10

Kevin Mirallas                    11

Dries Mertens                   14

Steven Defour                  16

Youri Tielemans                                18

Nacer Chadli                       22

FORWARD

Romelu Lukaku                 9

Divock Origi                        17

Michy Batshuayi                               19

Christian Benteke                            20