(Football news) Belgium overcame their disappointing opening in the UEFA Nations League by defeating Poland 6-1 at the King Baudouin Stadium. Having lost to the Netherlands 4-1 five days ago, Roberto Martinez’s team were out for blood and appeared to have succumbed to another disappointing result when Robert Lewandowski scored the opening goal in the 28th minute. The Polish striker is the subject of intense media scrutiny after publicly announcing his desire to leave Bayern Munich and has been prolific in front of goal, scoring 22 times for club and country in 2022. 

Despite the setback of going a goal down, Belgium hit back instantly with Axel Witsel and Kevin De Bruyne and a brace by Leandro Trossard ensured that the Red Devils were lifted from the bottom place in their group, which is now occupied by Wales. To make matters worse for Poland, Leander Dendoncker scored Belgium’s fifth goal while Lois Openda scored his first international goal on his debut, wrapping up a brilliant second half performance for his side. The result means that Belgium have now scored in 46 consecutive matches. Belgium will now face bottom side Wales on Saturday while Poland will take on the Netherlands.

Speaking after the match, Belgium’s Leandro Trossard said “It was fantastic today. We had to react after the last game. We played well and created many chances. And, of course, it's nice when you can score so many goals. It's hard to explain, if we knew the answer to that, we would do something about it. But we responded well today, that was the most important thing." Belgium manager Roberto Martinez said “It brings extra emotion when you lose against your rivals so that was definitely a motivator tonight. Against The Netherlands we were passive, waiting, insecure. Now we were a team instead of individuals. Nobody should be worried about the future of Belgian football. We have immense talent but we have to be patient. We finally have the structure in place. The rest will follow, but the talent is definitely there."

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