Belgium = The Seattle Seahawks

Belgium center back / captain Vincent Kompany celebrates a goal during a qualifier.

L.O.B.

Often overlooked in the Northwestern portions of their respective continents, Belgium and Seattle both offer outstanding varieties of food and beer. From the 1980s through the 2002 World Cup, Belgium fielded a series of teams that resembled the Chuck Knox era Seahawks-- good enough to qualify for World Cup and Euro tournaments, but not good enough to do much once they got there, aside from one semifinal appearance in the mid 1980s. They played a very conservative system and featured almost no memorable players. Only the most devoted of non-Belgian football fans can name many players from that era other than striker Marc Wilmots (now the team's coach) and goalkeeper Jean-Marie Pfaff.

Then all of a sudden, within the last few years, the "Red Devils" have found their camp loaded with outstanding young players. There's goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois, who despite being barely past his 22nd birthday is arguably the best in the world at his position. He just helped lead underdog Atlético Madrid (the New York Mets of Spain, to Real Madrid's Yankees) to their first Spanish league title in 18 years (and the first title won by a club other than Barcelona or Real Madrid in 10 years), and to within a few soul-crushing minutes of a Champions League title. There's Vincent Kompany anchoring central defense, captain of both the Belgian side and of Manchester City, who just won their 2nd English Premiere League title in 3 years. There's Chelsea's Eden Hazard and Everton's Romelu Lukaku and Kevin Mirallas leading the attack. Nearly every player in the side who figures to play a key role in Brazil plays their club football for a Champions League caliber side, or at least a good team in an elite league. And not only are they good, they're entertaining! They have attitude and personality that they express in ways that tends to bother certain opponents and pundits.

Sounds a bit familiar, doesn't it, 12s? I'd been noticing these similarities for a while, and then this Grantland feature by Sam Knight from a few weeks ago erased any doubt that the 'Hawks and Belgians are kindred spirits. Read that piece and it's quite easy to imagine Richard Sherman, Marshawn Lynch, Doug Baldwin, and the Seahawks' other colorful personalities fitting right in. According to Google Translate, "legion of boom" translates to "légion de la flèche" in French and "legioen van de giek" in Dutch.

Midfielder Marouane Fellaini and his afro puff will probably get a lot of attention at this World Cup.

Brazil 2014 is the first major international tournament Belgium has qualified for since the 2002 World Cup. Defender Daniel Van Buyten is the only member of the 2002 squad in this year's side; he's now 36 years old and figures to play a limited role if he plays at all. The Red Devils drew a group so easy, they might have made a deal with The Devil to get it. The lack of experience probably won't hurt them there, but if they do advance, they'll face a team from the Group G Death Gauntlet in the round of 16. And if they win that one, Argentina and France loom as potential opponents in the quarterfinals. Expect the Belgians to make some noise, and some are making them a dark horse pick to win the whole thing; but I see 2014 Belgium as the 2012 Seahawks-- a young team that's still learning how to play at the highest levels. Watch out for them at Euro 2016 and World Cup 2018.