After a long time, an international break is back on the schedule this March. Three Lommel SK players will swap Green-White for their national colours. Joey Pelupessy, Matthias Pieklak, and Yvann Titi will not be in Lommel during this period but will instead be in Australia and Indonesia, Serbia, and Italy, respectively.
Joey Pelupessy
Our number 6 was naturalised as an Indonesian last week, allowing him to be selected for the Asian country from this international break onwards. He was immediately called up and is now preparing for a long journey. The 31-year-old midfielder will play with his national team in and against Australia and at home against Bahrain. On Thursday, 20 March, Indonesia will face Australia in Sydney, with kick-off at 20:10 local time. In Belgium, it will be 10:10.
A few days later, on Tuesday, 25 March, Bahrain will be the opponent. The match will be played in the Indonesian capital, Jakarta, with kick-off at 20:45 local time. In Belgium, it will be 14:45. Indonesia still has a chance to qualify for the 2026 World Cup. If they finish in the top two of their group, they will directly qualify for next year's World Cup. Currently, the Asian nation sits in third place, with four matches remaining. They are just one point behind second-placed Australia.
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Matthias Pieklak
Matthias Pieklak will also be representing his country in the coming period. Our goalkeeper has been selected for Belgium U19, with whom he will compete for qualification for this summer’s U19 European Championship. This will be done through the so-called Elite Round for U19 teams.
During this Elite Round, Belgium U19 is in a group with their counterparts from Norway, Serbia, and Israel. This 'mini-tournament' will be hosted in Serbia. The first match is scheduled for Wednesday, 19 March, against Norway U19 at 11:00. Three days later, on Saturday, 22 March, the host nation Serbia U19 will be the opponent at 17:00. The tournament concludes on Tuesday, 25 March, with the match against Israel U19, also kicking off at 17:00. Only the group winner qualifies for the tournament that will take place this summer in Romania.
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Yvann Titi
Just like Matthias Pieklak, Yvann Titi is also preparing for the Elite Round. The Frenchman has been selected for France U19 and will participate in the same qualification process as Pieklak. Titi’s team will face their counterparts from Italy, Spain, and Latvia. This 'mini-tournament' will be held in Italy.
And these will be exciting fixtures, as this group includes three of the four semi-finalists from the previous U19 European Championship. Spain, the reigning U19 champions, will be the first opponent. This is also a rematch of the last U19 European Championship final. Back then, Spain and France faced each other in Northern Ireland, but this time the match will take place in Italy on Wednesday, 19 March, with kick-off at 14:00.
Furthermore, Titi and his teammates will play against Latvia (Saturday, 22 March, kick-off at 14:00) and against Italy (Tuesday, 25 March, kick-off at 15:00). The same rule applies here: only the group winner qualifies for the tournament in Romania this summer.
