The Red Wolves were unable to stunt against host Poland in Katowice on Friday night. Halfway through the match, the score was 9 – 12 in Poland’s favour. In the beginning of the match, the Belgians weren’t alert enough. Afterwards, defending improved and coach Sylla switched to his recipe for success with 7 players without a goalkeeper.

In the second half, the Belgians struggled against a physically stronger opponent with many substitution options. Towards the end of the match, three games in as many days started to weigh on.
With two wins and one defeat, the Red Wolves can look back on a successful preparation tournament. Saturday they return home, Sunday they have a day off and from Monday the final straight towards Malmö will start at Elewijtcenter.

After beating Morocco on Wednesday, the Red Wolves did the same to Iran tonight. Belgium went into the dressing rooms with a bonus of two goals. Halfway through the game, it was 18 – 16.

In the first half, the Belgians easily distanced themselves from Iran who managed to mitigate partly through ball loss by the Red Wolves. The second half had an almost identical scenario. The Red Wolves ran out 10 goals after which the foot momentarily took off the accelerator and Iran came into the game a little more. But victory was never in danger. 
On Friday night, the Belgians play host Poland.

Today the players are back at Elewijt Center, their regular base of operations. Today they are putting the finishing touches to their preparation towards the World Handball Championship that starts later this week.

The players we introduce today are the Left backs. Quinten Colman is one of them. Colman is like a block of granite, a young rock who can stand his ground quite well. He plays in France at Dijon Métropole HandBall. The second Left back we introduce to you is Sébastien Danesi. After a foreign adventure, he returned to his roots at HC Visé BM this season. The most famous Left back is probably Jeroen De Beule, aka the handballing Fellaini.  Apart from his hairdo, his eagerness and his never-ending style of play remind us of the former Red Devil. Jeroen plays at Sezoens Achilles Bocholt. We also have a fourth Left back and that is Joris Gillé playing at Bevo. During the barrage matches against Slovakia, he took the group in tow on several occasions, as he did during the qualification match against Croatia.

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Sunday, the last day of rest for our Red Wolves.

Today we introduce the right backs.  Let’s introduce Raphael Kötters who, like some other Belgians, has opted for a professional life in France. Kötters plays at Istres Provence Handball. The second right back is Kobe Serras playing at Bevo. Serras is a killer on the right back. It’s very hard to stop him. The third right back is Serge Spooren, several times voted Player of the Year in Belgium. Beside his speed, Spooren has a scorching shot. ‘Hammer to fall’ by Queen was undoubtedly inspired by him.

It is Saturday 7 January, the day the Red Wolves return home.  Tomorrow they will enjoy a rest day before starting the final straight towards Malmö from Monday.

Today we introduce the pivots and so we have two.  Yves ‘Beef’ Vancosen always leads the way and does so with dedication.  Defensively, he is a wall, offensively a battering ram who can strike out with frightening force.  Yves Vancosen plays at HC Visé BM. Simon Ooms‘ roots are, like those of Tom Robyns and Jef Lettens, with the former club Initia Hasselt. And like his two friends, he left Limburg for a professional career in France some time ago. He currently plays at US Ivry. After some injury problems, Simon is fully back and ready for the Red Wolves’ first World Cup.

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