Once, not so long ago, the scarcity of famous Belgians was a standing joke; a gentle mind-bender to idle away the minutes as someone went to the bar and got the frothy ales in.

There was always legendary cyclist Eddy Merckx, of course, Herge the creator of Tintin, Audrey Hepburn (born in Belgium) and Hercule Poirot.

But the inclusion of a fictitious character seemed to prove the point, even if it is a little disrespectful to painters such as Rubens and Magritte and Adolphe Sax, inventor of the saxophone.

Case for the defence: England's strikeforce will face Vermaelen and Kompany

An emerging crop of football talent, however, looks capable of ending this notion that Belgium gets far more credit for its chocolates, waffles and red tape than for its human beings.

All of a sudden, no self-regarding Barclays Premier League team is complete without a little Belgian gem. Vincent Kompany lifted the title for Manchester City earlier this month, Marouane Fellaini commands cult status at Everton and Chelsea are poised to sign Eden Hazard.

Hazard's £35million transfer from Lille will mean the European champions have invested nearly £70m in four young Belgium internationals - Thibaut Courtois, Kevin de Bruyne and Romelu Lukaku are the others - in the past year.

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