England vs Belgium: Philippe Albert and Alan Shearer don’t fancy Group G rivals to win World Cup
Newcastle legends met up for a chat as their countries prepare to play each other in Russia
PHILIPPE ALBERT has only just pushed open the door when he is greeted by a familiar face singing a familiar song.
“Philippe, Philippe Albert, everyone knows his name,” chants Alan Shearer, remembering his former team-mate’s terrace tune, which was sung to the theme music of The Adventures of Rupert Bear.
The towering figure of Albert chuckles before warmly embracing his old Newcastle pal.
And they immediately start swapping stories of their time together on Tyneside in the late 1990s.
Albert, 50, admitted: “I’ve never been at a club where all the players got on so well together. The atmosphere was unbelievable.
“We used to go out to bars and restaurants with 20 of us - it was part of the culture under Kevin Keegan.”
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Shearer, 47, added: “We had a lot of fun in those days. We had a laugh.
“We had plenty of nights out - not that we are going to tell you about them!”
Albert signed for Newcastle from Anderlecht in 1994 after starring for Belgium at the World Cup in America, where Toon boss Keegan was working as an ITV pundit.
The defender was part of The Entertainers team who lost the title to Manchester United in 1996 after blowing a 12-point lead.
That summer, Shearer joined his boyhood club from Blackburn for a then world-record transfer fee of £15million.
And Albert said: “I still remember the day he signed - thousands of fans at the ground.
“I had a lot of pleasure playing alongside him in that team. He was one of the best strikers in the world.
“You knew that if you gave him four or five good balls in the box, at least three of them would find the back of the net.
“He’s still a legend in Newcastle and he always will be. He deserves everything when you see what he did for the club.”
Their most memorable night together came in October 1996, when Newcastle thrashed Manchester United 5-0 - and a certain Belgian centre-half scored the fifth with THAT 25-yard chip.
Shearer smiled: “He used to try stupid things all the time in training so it was no surprise to me that he actually tried it in a game and it worked!”
Albert admitted: “People ask me sometimes, ‘If it was 0-0, what would you have done?’.
“But I would have done exactly the same because I had watched Peter Schmeichel a lot.
“He is one of the greatest keepers of all time and the way he reduced the angle was by coming off his line a bit.
“So when I got the ball I knew there was only one thing to do - to chip it.
“And it was perfect. Everything was perfect on the day.
“It’s one of my favourite games because that’s the game people always talk about in Newcastle - but under Kevin every week was a special game.
“We were called The Entertainers because even when we played away from home, we sometimes got applause after the game for how we played.
“If you ask me now what I would have preferred, I would say not winning silverware but giving pleasure to the fans like we did.”
Belgium and England have certainly given pleasure to their fans so far in Russia, having both scored eight goals in two games against Tunisia and Panama.
Thursday’s Group G decider will be their first World Cup meeting since a last-16 tie in 1990 when David Platt scored a stunning volley in extra-time.
Albert, who is in Russia working for Belgian TV, was an unused substitute that night.
And he said: “When you are beaten in the last minute of extra-time, it’s like the world has fallen apart.
“We were terribly disappointed that we had to come home. It has been 28 years but people in Belgium still talk about that game.”
England went on to reach the semi-finals that year but have never got as far since, while Belgium’s open last-four appearance was in 1986.
Both nations, though, are dreaming of rewriting history this time around.
But Shearer said: “You can only beat what is put in front of you but we must not get too carried away.
“I might be wrong, but I don’t think Belgium or England will win the World Cup.
"Belgium look red-hot going forward. They could cause any team problems with their attacking players and they have put a marker down here without a doubt.
“But we talked about their individual talent two years ago at the Euros and they went out in the quarter-finals.
“It remains to be seen whether they can perform as a team at the latter stages of a tournament.”
Albert added: “I have the same opinion as Alan, I don’t think Belgium or England will win the World Cup.
“Reaching the quarter-final would be quite a good tournament for us.
“Roberto Martinez does not have an easy job but he does not have a very difficult job either because he’s got the best generation of Belgium players. We’ve never had so much talent.
“But the mentality will be very important and when I look at someone like Yannick Carrasco, he’s been playing in China for six months and he’s only 24. It’s a joke.
“Players are taking decisions and they are not bothered about the national team or the next World Cup.
“They are only bothered about one thing and that’s taking the money.”
Albert packs it in
PHILIPPE ALBERT is back working in football as a respected pundit on Belgian TV.
But after hanging up his boots he left the game altogether… to pack fruit and veg!
Albert explained: “I retired in 2000 and I didn’t want to go back into football too early.
“When you are in the spotlight for 15 years, you have to have a break sometimes and that’s what I did.
“I did something different. I met a friend who had a fruit and veg company and I worked for him.
“I’d pack fruit and veg and prepare it for businesses who came to the factory to pick it up. I had a normal life for 11 years.
“I was working with plenty of lads who became my friends. We worked very hard but it was fun.
“I earned a lot of money while I was playing football and it’s always in the bank.
“But you can’t stop your career and then do nothing until the last day of your life. If you don’t work, you have no money coming in.
“And I wanted to set an example for my kids as well because they only saw me as a professional footballer.
“I proved to my kids that I could do something different which was very important to me.”
Still, Belgium and England will fancy their chances while their No9s are still scoring.
Romelu Lukaku has fired in four so far, while Harry Kane is the tournament’s top scorer with five.
Shearer, who won the Golden Boot at Euro ‘96, said: “Harry has scored in every single game he has been England captain.
“And when goals are going in off the back of your heel, you know you have got a chance of the Golden Boot!
"Lukaku also has an unbelievable opportunity now.
“I do feel a bit sorry for him at times at Manchester United because he’s a little restricted.
“He’s playing in a United team that is a bit conservative, they don’t get the ball forward as quickly as they could.
"But scoring goals in a tournament can be life-changing, career-changing. It puts your name on the global stage.”
Albert said: “If England keep going, Kane can maybe score ten goals in the tournament.
“He is the next Alan Shearer. Alan is the Premier League’s all-time top scorer and would score goals from anywhere but Kane does the same.
“He has the ability and quality to follow in Alan’s footsteps and maybe beat his record.
“For me, Kane and Lukaku are the two best out-and-out strikers in the world.”
Lukaku will be rested tomorrow as Martinez rings the changes, while Gareth Southgate is also planning to shuffle his pack with both sides already safely through to the last 16.
And it is a strategy Shearer and Albert have differing opinions on.
Shearer said: “I don’t mind one or two changes but not four or five.
“They are all in the groove, they are confident and everything becomes instinctive. You get on a roll.”
But Albert added: “Sometimes I don’t understand what Martinez says or does, but on this, he is 100 per cent right.
“Can you imagine if he plays Kevin De Bruyne, Jan Vertonghen and Thomas Meunier and they are all booked and suspended for the next round? It’s too risky.
“I don’t know what Southgate will do but England teams always play to win, they have the right mentality.
“Although a lot will depends on the result a few hours before the game.
“If Colombia go through, England and Belgium should do everything to avoid them in the next round.”