Dennis Praet marked the end of his “difficult period” with a goal as he earned Belgium a 1-0 victory in their final game of the international break.
Dennis Praet said “I am obviously happy to have scored. It was not an easy game and the most important thing was to secure the victory. The goal is the icing on the cake. It feels good after a difficult period where I hadn’t played a lot. I was happy to be able to play and to have been able to score that goal.”
The midfielder, loaned out by Leicester City to Torino on deadline day, struck instinctively from inside the box to help his nation see off Belarus on Wednesday night and strengthen their position in World Cup qualifying. It was just Praet’s fifth start this calendar year, and the third with Belgium, after a period at City in which he struggled for game-time. After pulling his hamstring in January, Praet only started once more for City after he returned in March, in the 3-2 loss at West Ham. He has never lost the faith of Belgium boss Roberto Martinez though, and played alongside Youri Tielemans and Timothy Castagne on Wednesday evening.
