And Genk, which did so well to reach the Champions League this season – and recorded a memorable 1-1 draw with super-rich Chelsea this month – are still firmly rooted to the bottom of their group, a reminder that feisty Flemish spirit on the field is little match for the expensively assembled, multi-national sides that dominate the competition.

There is a particular sting given that this was supposed to be such a promising generation of players, many of whom were the exciting side that reached the semi-finals of the Olympic competition in Beijing in 2008.

But this is no time to dwell on the past. National team coach Georges Leekens has rightly started the task of rebuilding the side around the freshest players, with a focus on reaching the 2014 World Cup in Brazil. The process has at least begun with a morale-boosting 2-1 victory against Romania in Liège last Friday.

Bayern Munich’s veteran defender, Daniel Van Buyten, gave Belgium the lead when he headed home from corner by PSV Eindhoven’s Dries Mertens, and Genk’s Anthony Vanden Borre doubled the score when he scored a deflected goal. Tuesday night’s more testing game against France took place after Flanders Today went to press, but this at least suggested that the home team was recovering well.

And there are other encouraging signs that are not borne from the national team’s fortunes. Flemish talent is still very much in demand across Europe. This is not just a reflection of Thomas Vermaelen in Arsenal, Vincent Kompany in Manchester City or Benfica’s Axel Witsel, but of less familiar names.

These include current Under-21 stars Timothy Durwael of Genk (photo, right), Sint-Truiden’s Dimitri Daeseleire, and Ghent’s Yassine El Ghanassy. But perhaps the most striking is the news that Manchester United has signed 15-year-old Andreas Pereira. The son of Brazilian star Marcos Pereira (who in his day played for Mechelen, Antwerp and Sint-Truiden), he is already a Belgian youth international, and will move to Old Trafford on his 16th birthday (on New Years’ Day).

There he will join two other Flemish hopes, Charni Ekangamene and Marnick Vermijl, who are already in United’s youth team. There have been false promises and disappointments before. But there are too many prospects worth watching for fans to despair, despite Belgium missing out on the party next summer.