The defense of Belgium came in for criticism after giving away a late equalizer to North Macedonia in their World Cup qualification match on Friday, but coach Rudi Garcia said he had to show belief in them for their next collision against Wales on Monday.
Belgian media and commentators said that the team was lucky to get away with a point of their opening group Jature, although they led most of the competition in Skopje.
Hosts North Macedonia hit the woodwork twice and had a strike out of VAR before he took an 86th minute goal to draw 1-1.
Garcia, in just his third match, said he wanted to show confidence in his defenders for the collision against Wales in Brussels.
“It's a matter of trust. Our defenders need that. I don't want to point out fingers because we also have to be able to bring more offensive. We have the qualities for that,” he said reporters.
Garcia said he did not feel that he had to adjust his defense, which gave three goals to Ukraine in the play-off of the Nations League Promotion-Relegation in March.
“That is not necessary. As I said, it's a matter of trust for our defense. You can't solve that by adjusting the system.”
Belgium is strongly depicted to take the automatic qualifying place for the group winners, but Wales took the early lead in the group with seven points of their opening of three games.
Garcia said there were several reasons for the mediocre show of Belgium in Skopje.
“The heat was one of them. But if you are 1-0 up, you can't give it up. It didn't go well. We have taken the wrong decision too often with the last pass.”
There were also questions about the changes of Garcia, after he had taken Captain Thomas Meunier and Talisman Kevin De Bruyne early in the second half.
“It is also a physical problem. And there is also quality on the couch. I replaced Meunier because he already had a yellow card, and I need it against Wales on Monday because I only have one back immediately.
“As far as De Bruyne is concerned, I also thought of Monday's game. Playing 90 minutes twice in three days is a lot in this phase of the competition.
“Incidentally, I thought we recovered control after the substitutions because of our physical superiority,” Garcia added.