Team Belgium, the Belgian Barbarians, silenced a wildly cheering crowd in Oropesa del Mar, Spain to defeat Team Spain 14-6 in an international exhibition this past weekend.
Belgium broke open a 0-0 halftime deadlock in the second half as quarterback Tomasz Firszt threw touchdown passes to wide receivers Gaetan Lebek and Mike Schoonheyt for the win.
Wide receiver Marc Minyana scored the lone touchdown for Spain on a pass from backup quarterback Alejandro Alvarez who had replaced starter Andrew Donat.
Photo: Lola Morales
Neither team could gain much momentum in the tentative first quarter and in fact neither red zone was threatened. Belgium’s ground game opened up in the second quarter with running back Arkadi Meerschout gaining valuable yards. Spain’s head coach Marcos Guirles rotated his quarterbacks liberally in the first half and then countered with Marcos de la Mata carrying the ball. Nevertheless, Belgium came closest with Firszt finding Matthew Craens for a long gain. But a blocked field goal ended Belgium’s scoring chances in the first half.
The second half saw Belgium’s offense begin to assert itself as Firszt began connecting with Ruben De Ruyter before finding Lebek in the end zone to take a 7-0 lead in the third quarter.
Spain responded with Minyana’s touchdown reception. However Belgium countered with Meerschout scampering 70 yards to set up Schoonheyt’s touchdown reception. Both Belgian PATs were good giving the Barbarians their first win of 2016.
Belgian Barbarians head coach Lee Rosky was understandably happy with the win:
“It was a great game for Belgium football. The Spanish were great hosts.”
Belgium is scheduled to play Hungary on October 29 this year.