IT’S TIME TO SHINE FOR THE GOLDEN GENERATION OF BELGIUM

FOR Belgium’s golden generation, the time is now. Time to deliver. Time to shine, as they say. For some, time has already run out. Vincent Kompany wanted to make Euro 2020 his swansong, but last year’s postponement denied the former Manchester City captain that opportunity.

For some of Kompany’s teammates, this could be their last chance. Thomas Vermaelen, Jan Vertonghen and, possibly, Toby Alderweireld.

Eden Hazard is 30 years old now, and Kevin De Bruyne will be later this month, too. Axel Witsel is 32, Dries Mertens 34.

Belgium may be the No1-ranked team in the world, but time is not on their side.

Roberto Martinez and his players know it, and the emphasis at the club’s training camp has been to lift the pressure off one of the tournament favourites as they prepare to face Russia, Denmark and Finland in Group B.

‘Romelu, Time to Unwind,’ reads the message on Romelu Lukaku’s hotel room door. Youri Tielemans is greeted by the words, ‘Youri, Time to Throw Pillows’.

Try as they might, though, there is no disguising that Belgium would have wanted to come into Euro 2020 in better shape.

The 12-month delay has not been kind to an ageing team, and three key players are struggling for form or fitness. The build-up has been overshadowed by an injury scare surrounding De Bruyne, who enjoyed an outstanding season for City which ended with him sustaining a fractured nose and eye socket in the Champions League final defeat by Chelsea.

He joined up with his Belgium team-mates on Monday following minor surgery and will miss today’s opening game against Russia in St Petersburg.

Witsel, an often under- rated member of this Belgian side, has not played since rupturing his achilles in January. And then there’s Hazard. His form has dropped off a cliff since he moved to Real Madrid for £89million two years ago amid concerns over his lifestyle and conditioning.

The winger started just seven games in La Liga this season and failed to finish a single one of them, before making a forgettable nine-minute appearance off the bench in Sunday’s final warm- up game against Croatia.

Hazard is unlikely to start against Russia, with highly-rated teenager Jeremy Doku one of the options to step in for him or De Bruyne.

The problems do not end there for Martinez, who goes into the tournament without a recognised left wing-back.

Nacer Chadli, Timothy Castagne and Yannick Carrasco have all been used in that position, but Hazard’s brother, Thorgan, is expected to get the nod today.

Belgium and Ukraine are the only top- six seeds not to be hosting any games. Brussels was meant to be the venue for all three of their group fixtures but red tape got in the way and Belgium must now hit the road in Group B, twice to St Petersburg and once to Copenhagen.

It is far from ideal, but, let us not forget, this is a team who won all 10 Euro qualifiers and Belgium’s only defeat in the last two-and-ahalf years and 23 games came against England in the Nations League in October.

A team led by Lukaku. While some of his compatriots arrive at Euro 2020 out of sorts, the Inter Milan striker is bang in form. Belgium’s all-time record- scorer got the winner against Croatia on Sunday to take his total to 60 goals in 93 internationals, fresh from helping Inter to end their 11-year wait for a Serie A title.

Lukaku scored another 30 goals to add to the 34 he scored in his first season at San Siro following a club-record £74m move from Manchester United — making it 38 goals for club and country for two seasons running, and that is before Euro 2020 has kicked off.

The 28-year-old has grown as a player and a man in Italy, where he has won his personal duel with his former United team-mate, Zlatan Ibrahimovic. Lukaku has addressed some of the conditioning issues that dogged him in Manchester by hiring a live-in physio and personal chef.

He learned to speak Italian — his eighth language — after just two months and is sufficiently settled in Italian culture to have become an ambassador for Versace.

He is in the form of his life and that is at least one piece of good news for Belgium. Lukaku’s country needs him now more than ever. If this is to be their time, he has to shine.