KING BAUDOUIN STADIUM (Belgium v Wales)

UEFA EURO 2016 QUALIFYING GROUP B, BELGIUM 0-0 WALES,
ATTENDANCE: 55,000

It was time for the main event as I made my way from Grote Markt  to The King Baudouin Stadium in the north of Brussels.

The stadium is forever remembered for the Heysel Stadium disaster of 1985 when 39 football fans lost their lives at the European Cup Final between Liverpool and Juventus. Their fans were separated by a neutral block, set aside for Belgian fans. This block however was filled with Juventus fans and before kick off both sets of fans began baiting each other, throwing missiles at each other (including bits of the crumbling terrace). Liverpool fans then charged at the Juventus fans and as they fled a wall blocking their escape collapsed on top of them.

There is a memorial in the corner of the ground where the tragedy occurred. It is a sundial with 39 lights and there is a plaque with the names of the victims.

The stadium has been completely rebuilt since those events of May 29th 1985 and was renamed after the Belgian monarch who died in 1993.

This Euro qualifier was a highly anticipated game and tickets for the Wales end were seriously oversubscribed. The allocation of 2,400 were quickly snapped up and it is estimated a further 1,000 travelled without tickets.

Wales have a great start to qualifying, winning two and drawing one of their three games but tonight was to be a big test against the team ranked 4th in FIFA's ranking.

It was a fantastic, back to the walls, performance from the boys in yellow as they held out to gain what may prove to be a valuable point. As you can imagine Belgium had most of the possession, Eden Hazard weaving his magic, and most of the chances with Nicolas Lombaerts hitting the post.

Wayne Henessey was also in top form, pulling off some fine saves. Christian Benteke had a chance to win the game in stoppage time but the Welsh defence held firm. Inevitably Wales' best chance came through Gareth Bale but he dragged his effort wide.
A fine result and the Welsh fans celebrated with gutso as they dispersed in the Brussels night.