San Marino 0-4 Belgium: 3 Talking Points | Euro 2020 Qualifiers

#2 Roberto Martinez' substitutions makes a difference

Mertens came off the bench to influence proceedings

Belgium are currently ranked as the number one team in the world, while their hosts on the night are ranked some 221 places beneath them to sit bottom of the FIFA rankings. Though the scoreline might illustrate the difference in quality of both teams, there were points when it did not seem like that.

The last time both sides met, Belgium walloped San Marino 8-0, but were restricted to just four shots on target in the first half, and needed a fortuitous handball by defender Mirko Palazzi to break the deadlock in the 43rd minute.

Ten minutes into the second half with the scores still at 1-0, Martinez turned to his bench, and summoned Nacer Chadli and Dries Mertens, with the former coming on for Adnan Januzaj, while the latter replaced Divock Origi.

It took just two minutes for both men to make their mark, as they combined for Mertens to open the scoring, and just five minutes later, the roles were reversed with the Napoli man turning provider.

This would have been rather disappointing for Roberto Martinez, as the fact that Belgium faced a team consisting of primarily part-time footballers offered an excellent opportunity for players on the periphery to make a statement. They failed to do so with Divock Origi in particular being the major culprit.