Roberto Martinez believes Belgium deserve to win Euro 2020 but acknowledges that will count for little if they do not perform at the finals.
Belgium completed their qualification campaign on Tuesday, thrashing Cyprus 6-1 to end with 10 wins from 10 in Group I, scoring 40 goals in the process.
Martinez has already seen enough to suggest Belgium are worthy of a maiden major international title, yet he knows there is plenty of work to do.
Whether we can win the European Championship, that is something that we have in our hands, head coach Martinez said. We need to get even better and then we see if we can play another great tournament.
We have set the standard at the World Cup [finishing third] and we are continuing to develop into a team with a great deal of togetherness. And the fans are also important.
We now have seven months to become as good as possible. This team deserves to win the European Championship but, in football, it s not that simple.
What a performance from our team and our FANS
— Belgian Red Devils (@BelRedDevils)
Reflecting on qualifying, he added: I think everyone just worked really well this year. The players know what to do and they do it with an incredible focus.
Scoring six times and then playing again in this way is very good.
Kevin De Bruyne, who scored twice in a playmaking masterclass against Cyprus, added: It s always beautiful. Nobody has given it to us.
Once you start the qualification, you have to go match by match and we did. It s very nice to finally get there [with 10 wins].