Vandereycken fired as Belgium coach

Rene Vandereycken has been sacked as coach of the Belgian national team after a string of disappointing results, the Belgian Football Federations (URBSFA) announced on Tuesday.

The 55-year-old oversaw Belgium’s failure to qualify for Euro 2008 and leaves them fourth in their European qualifying group for the 2010 World Cup, eleven points behind group leaders Spain and unlikely to qualify for next year’s tournament in South Africa.

Belgium were last week beaten twice in the space of five days (4-2 at home and 2-1 away) by second-placed Bosnia-Herzegovina.

Vandereycken’s successor has not yet been named.

In recent days, the Belgian media have named Belgium’s Under-21 coach Jean-Francois De Sart, Marsille coach Eric Gerets, Vandereycken’s former assistant Franky Vercauteren and former international Marc Wilmots as potential replacements.

Zenit St Petersburg’s Dutch coach Dick Advocaat has also been cited as a possible foreign alternative.