Tine De Caigny: Why Hoffenheim’s “dangerous” attacker could be key for Belgium at Euro 2022 – scout report

France may be the favourites to top Group D in next summer’s Euro 2022 tournament, but any of the other three teams in the group (Iceland, Italy and Belgium) could join them in the knockout stages, making it one of the closer groups to call. In terms of players, Iceland have West Ham United Women midfielder Dagny Brynjarsdottir and Lyon Feminin’s Sara Bjork Gunnarsdottir in their squad, whilst Italy boast AC Milan Femmenile striker Valentina Giacinti and Juventus Femmenile playmaker Barbara Bonansea among their key players.

However, Belgium have their own star names, one of which is 24-year-old Hoffenheim Frauen attacker Tine De Caigny, who has impressed since her summer move to the German side from Anderlecht Feminin. This tactical analysis will look at De Caigny’s game in closer detail, both for Hoffenheim and for Belgium, seeing where she fits into both teams’ tactics. The scout report will focus on how she creates space for her teammates, her ability to give her team options around the pitch, and some areas where she can improve her individual game.

Creating space

The first thing this analysis will look at is how Tine De Caigny creates space for her team. This comes mainly through her movement around the field, but also through her good positioning and spatial awareness, all of which are important characteristics for attackers to have.

The first thing to note is that she is a team player, and will always take opponents away from teammates when she can, helping to build attacks. In this image, the ball has been travelling towards the Norway goal, but has now stopped. However, in order to prevent the Norwegian defenders closing in on it, De Caigny continues her run forwards, with all four opponents following her, as the yellow arrows show. This opens up the player positioned behind them, and the ball is passed into her once the defenders have been removed as a threat.

From this position, Belgium have a better route to goal, and less opponents to prevent them getting there. Therefore, De Caigny’s instinctive movement is important in helping to create goalscoring opportunities, and this is something that both Hoffenheim and Belgium have benefitted from.