Lacklustre Red Lions displays overshadowed by scandal

When long-serving manager Luc Holtz announced his final squad for the two international friendlies taking place in June, there were many notable absentees. Christopher Martins and Yvandro are still nursing minor injuries, Anthony Moris wanted some extra time with his family after a tiring season, Mathias Olesen was working on finding a new club (eventually signing for Greuther Fürth), while Marvin Martins was also omitted.

But one of the names included in the list attracted most of the attention: Gerson Rodrigues, convicted for multiple cases of assault in 2024, saw his verdict upheld upon appeal in April. Nonetheless, the striker found himself back in the national setup, despite a continued absence from football in the previous months.

The decision to select one of the most controversial figures in Luxembourgish football has sparked outrage and confusion across the country numerous times in the past years. But calling up a convicted domestic abuser to represent the country on the international stage was impossible to overlook for all supporters in the Grand Duchy.

Protests from the stands were hard to miss during both games, as the crowd tried vehemently to get their point across about the attacker’s involvement in the games. Security officers were instructed to remove some of the banners, but the atmosphere remained hostile throughout the matches.

Several women’s rights groups spoke up in the aftermath of the incidents occurring in the stands at the Slovenia game, while manager Luc Holtz faced plenty of questions on the subject during the whole week, and decided to defend his player.

Gerson Rodrigues featured for 90 and 82 minutes in the two matches respectively. Sports minister Georges Mischo announced a decrease in football-related government funding in light of the incident. The Luxembourgish Football Federation (FLF) will also set up an ethical committee to revisit the circumstances and prepare for future cases.

Rigid approach continues to stifle attacking creativity

The starting line-ups deployed by Luc Holtz were unsurprising on both occasions, favouring the in-form players and established stars in almost every position. It was also, as usual, overly cautious at times.
While officially listed as a four-man defence on the team sheet, the starting XI had Florian Bohnert as right-winger both times, a defensive-minded wing-back eager to retreat and provide defensive solidity on both occasions. As a result, Danel Sinani ended up pushing  forward to play a more attacking role, often leaving gaping spaces in midfield that completely eradicated chances of playing out from the back.

Benfica duo Leandro Barreiro and Tomás Moreira covered immense distances, helping the team stay solid at the back and laying the foundation for an encouraging defensive performance. However, their efforts sapped all the energy and opportunity to be present in the opponents’ half. The gap between midfield and attack was insurmountable most of the times, and even long spells of possession became turgid and mundane, players passing the ball around hopelessly waiting for a break that never came.

While Luxembourg enjoyed more possession than Ireland, and stood their ground against Slovenia, they were far from controlling the proceedings or dominating. Possession alone was merely a tool to keep the opponents somewhat further away from scoring, and retain the slight chance of a successful long shot or an incisive counter-attack (which, again, shouldn’t be expected once the opposition defends deep).

Brian Madjo’s selection for the centre-forward spot paid off in the summer international window for Holtz, who aimed to try more options for the same role this time around, as Aiman Dardari, Jayson Videira and Michael Omosanya were all awarded a call-up. But even though a striker of Madjo’s calibre is good at holding the ball and laying it off, his pace on the counter can never be exposed as long as the midfield struggles to deploy those killer passes up front

Pereira-Korać-Carlson: A trio for the future?

For the second international window in a row, the revitalised centre-back partnership of Seid Korać and Dirk Carlson weathered the storm against respectable opposition, keeping two clean sheets in the past four matches with the assistance of captain Laurent Jans, who often tucks in from the right to help out.

In the last game, against the Republic of Ireland on Tuesday night, the defence functioned like a brick wall, with no way through the agile and confident duo, whose understanding of each other’s positioning and roles solved all the problems created by Maxime Chanot’s temporary international retirement quicker than expected.

But the difference between the March camp and the latest one was the emergence of a new figure behind them: Mönchengladbach teenager Tiago Pereira Cardoso, hailed as the “new ter Stegen” by his coaches in Germany, has settled into the senior environment with ease. Having already got bit-part roles in friendlies for the country previously, Moris’ leave of absence provided him with the perfect pathway to start his transformation to first-choice ‘keeper for years to come.

All players enjoyed stellar individual seasons at club level, too: Korać is attracting suitors from Belgium and elsewhere in Europe, Carlson captained his side on numerous occasions en route to a respectable upper-half finish in the Austrian second division, while Pereira made his full Bundesliga debut and followed it up with a string of eye-catching performances and clean sheets.

Pereira is expected to stay on Mönchengladbach’s books going into 2025/26, either as a backup option, or with a loan move with an eye on the future. Korać and Carlson are at a crossroads, though: the former needs to choose wisely with so many options for an upgrade being present, while Carlson’s ability is simply calling for a higher standard than what St Pölten can currently offer him.

The decisions all of them make in the summer transfer window can crucially influence the coming years of the national team, too. A good move, and they can consolidate their partnership and stabilise Luxembourg’s team selection choices. If they slip to the fringes of their respective squads, though, they will fall back down in the international pecking order just as fast as they rose to prominence under Holtz.

What next for the Red Lions?

Luxembourg’s 2026 World Cup qualifiers will finally kick off in September, when they host Northern Ireland and Slovakia at Stade de Luxembourg in the space of four days.

The campaign will be concluded over three months, with home and away games against the aforementioned teams, plus Germany, to take place in October and November. The first-placed team of the quartet qualifies for the event in the United States, Canada and Mexico next year, while second-placed teams will enter a play-off, with additional spots for that round being given to Nations League performers.

The only other competition Luxembourg are competing in is the UEFA Nations League, where their relegation play-off against Malta will not take place until 2026.