‘Beautiful’ time to be clad in red

Neymar used Brazil’s famed yellow jersey to shield his anguish. The Belgians, clad in red and dancing in a celebratory circle nearby, couldn’t hide their relief.

Belgium reached the World Cup semifinals yesterday for the first time in 28 years, holding off five-time champions Brazil 2-1.

“We’ve achieved something really beautiful,” said Kevin De Bruyne, who scored Belgium’s second goal, “and it’s not easy.”

Belgium eliminated Brazil by successfully fusing the attacking potency of De Bruyne and Romelu Lukaku with the creativity of Eden Hazard and the goalkeeping exploits of Thibaut Courtois. Plus an own goal from Brazil.

It all adds up to a semifinal showdown against France on Wednesday in St Petersburg.

“Just treasure it and pass it down in the generations,” Belgium coach Roberto Martinez said, still seemingly in awe of what his team achieved at Kazan Arena.

“Randomness happened and it was cruel to us,” Brazil coach Tite said. “It was hard to swallow.”

Especially after Brazil conceded only one goal in the previous four games in Russia. But the defence was breached after 13 minutes in Tatarstan. Fernandinho’s own goal ensured for the first time since March 2017 that Brazil was trailing in a competitive match. Unlike then — an eventual 4-1 victory over Uruguay — there was no comeback.

Not when Courtois was proving an impenetrable barrier in the Belgium goal.

“They were more effective,” Tite said. “Not a superiority in terms of performance but in terms of effectiveness on the pitch.”

“Sometimes you have to accept Brazil has this finesse, that quality, and that they’re going to break you down and [Belgium] just refused to accept that,” Martinez said.