Chile and Belgium draw in Kirin Cup

Midfielder Kevin Roelandts scored his first goal for Belgium, but his side were held to a 1-1 draw by Chile in the three-nation Kirin Cup football tournament on Friday.

Seven-time World Cup participants Chile kept the initiative by exchanging short passes and sending effective long balls to the front, while Belgium played rather defensively at the beginning.

But it was Belgium who opened the scoring in the 15th minute after forward Mujanji Bia sent a heading pass to the front, where Kevin Roelandts fired a shot that hit goalkeeper Miguel Pinto and went into the net.

Chile retaliated soon afterwards. In the 20th minute, forward Esteban Paredes hit a shot, which Belgian goalkeeper Stijn Stijnen saved, and then Edson Puch hit the rebound, forcing Stijnen to save again.

But three minutes later, forward Fabian Orellana failed to hit a shot and then defender Gary Medel struck the rebound home. Stijnen touched the ball but it landed in the net.

Belgium, who have played 11 World Cups, started to play better in the second half with forward Maarten Martens hitting the first shot on goal.

After midfielder Marco Estrada missed several shots, Chile keeper Pinto was kept busy saving shots off midfielder Ritchie De Laet and Bia in the 68th and 70th minutes.

But neither side could score a decider and the referee’s whistle sounded soon after a shot from substitute forward Jose Fuenzalida went wide.

“It’s wonderful. I’m really happy that I scored my first goal for Belgium soon after I was called up for the first time. We have a chance to win this tournament. I want to play well against Japan as well,” said Roelandts.

Belgium coach Franky Vercauteren said: “I’m satisfied with the result. We had some tough times but we played a good game. I’m looking forward to the game against Japan, I expect it to be a tough game.”

On Wednesday, Japan defeated Chile 4-0 to take three points from the win, while Belgium and Chile have one point each.

Belgium and Japan will face each other at the national stadium in Tokyo on Sunday in the last of the warm-up games for next month’s World Cup qualifiers.