WORLD CUP PLAYDOWNS
Europe takes control
Belgium reached the World Cup semifinals for the first time in 32 years by holding off five-time champion Brazil 2-1 on Friday in Kazan, sending Neymar home having failed to live up to the expectations that come with being soccer’s most expensive player.
Belgium scored the decisive goal on a counter-attack just after a corner had been taken by Neymar. Romelu Lukaku surged forward with the ball and Kevin De Bruyne put it in the net to give Belgium a 2-0 lead in the 31st minute.
“This was the biggest test for us,” De Bruyne said. “Brazil was so strong in attack.”
The opener came after a bit of good fortune. Fernandinho’s trailing arm inadvertently helped Belgium captain Vincent Kompany’s header land in his own net in the 13th minute.
As Belgium lost cohesiveness in the second half and Brazil’s changes stirred the team, substitute Renato Augusto reduced the deficit in the 76th with a header.
But it was too late for Brazil to muster an equalizer as efforts to force the game into extra time were thwarted by Belgium goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois.
For the third time in a World Cup — after 1982 and 2006 — the semifinals will feature only European teams. Belgium and France will meet in St. Petersburg on Tuesday. The next day in Moscow, it will be either England or Sweden against either Russia or Croatia.
Humiliated 7-1 by Germany in the semifinal four years ago on home soil, Brazil didn’t even get that far this time. Just like defending champion Germany and Argentina before them, the Kazan Arena is where Brazil’s World Cup challenge ended.
“This is beating Brazil in the World Cup, in the knockout,” Belgium coach Roberto Martinez said. “Just treasure it and pass it down in the generations.”
Belgium is now on a 24-match unbeaten streak.
Belgium, which finished fourth at the 1986 tournament and has never won the European Championship, hopes its golden generation can deliver its first trophy.
With eight shutouts in the last nine games before Friday, including three in its first four games in Russia, Brazil had the tightest defence of the remaining teams at the World Cup. But Courtois was a nearly impenetrable barrier in the Belgium goal, denying Marcelo’s strike before the lead was extended.
Criticized for his play acting, Neymar then went down lightly at the start of the second half. But as the referee started to seek a video review, Neymar appeared to urge him against it. A booking — if he got one for diving — would have ruled him out the semifinals.
Belgium will be without defender Thomas Meunier for the semifinal after tripping Neymar and earning a second yellow card of the tournament.
Then just 23 years old, Luis Suarez started alongside Uruguayan legend Diego Forlan when Los Charruas opened the 2010 World Cup.
A much younger — and then very much cane-less — coach Oscar Tabarez played Edinson Cavani alongside the aforementioned duo at that same tournament en route to a semifinal appearance.
Uruguay fell 2-0 on Friday in Nizhny Novgorod to a French side it never worried, a side Tabarez described as being a “very big distance” in front of the South Americans.
Les Bleus were expected to take care of business regardless of Cavani’s inclusion or absence. When Cavani sat out, it became a forgone conclusion.
Raphael Varane gave France the lead with a header in the 40th minute. Antoine Griezmann scored the clincher, sending a seemingly easy-to-save shot at a waiting Fernando Muslera. But the ball hit the keeper on the palms, bounced off and looped over his head and into the net.
“We deserved the result ... we were better than they were,” French coach Didier Deschamps said. “We didn’t want to give them any opportunities (to score) — especially because a team like Uruguay isn’t used to being scored on. However, we have some margin to get even better.”
If Tabarez thought his side appeared listless without Cavani, imagine a Uruguayan future without the likes of Suarez and Diego Godin.
Tabarez could be the next to go, though the 71-year-old refused to answer post-game if he’ll resign following more than a decade in charge of Los Charruas.
Cavani sauntered out of the dugout at full-time after being forced to watch this quarter-final due to a calf strain. He was first onto the pitch to console Suarez.
Suarez wasn’t just toothless without his better half, he was historically bad. The Barcelona striker didn’t find a single touch in the opposition’s box for the first time at a World Cup.
Tabarez was unwilling to concede his side looks set to regress within a confederation full of parity.
“Uruguay is still a team within the most important teams in the world,” he said. “If you think losing this game means we didn’t achieve anything, then I cant understand you.”
The question is whether this result is as good as it gets.