BELGIANS BACK FROM THE DEAD
Heartbreak for Japan as Chadli seals great escape
NACeR Chadli’s dramatic 94thminute winner — going from one end to the other in 9.94 seconds — completed an incredible MarouaneF ella i niinspired comeback to break Japanese hearts.
Belgium, the huge favourites, had looked down and out when trailing 2-0 thanks to goals from Genki haraguchi and Takashi Inui at the start of the second half. But the arrival of second-half substitute Fellaini turned the game around.
Jan Vertonghen started the fightback with a looping header for 2-1 before Fellaini made it 2-2 with 16 minutes to go.
Then, with only seconds remaining on the clock, Chadli, also on as a sub, arrived at the end of a classy breakaway move to clinch a quarter-final against Brazil.
What will hurt Japan the most is that the winner came so soon after Thibaut Courtois had saved a Keisuke honda free-kick which almost won the game for his team.
But from the resulting corner, the Chelsea keeper rolled the ball out to Kevin De Bruyne, who ran half the length of the field in a classic counter-attack which ended with Chadli gleefully firing home from a Thomas Meunier cross after Romelu Lukaku dummied.
‘Well that’s what happens in the World Cup!’ said Belgium manager Roberto Martinez. ‘Fellaini and Chadli were excellent but the result was down to the personality, focus and never-give-up attitude of the players.
‘Sometimes in a World Cup you want to be perfect but in the knockout stage it’s about winning. The boys showed a winning mentality today.
‘It was about their desire of wanting to win and to be in a quarter-final against Brazil. It’s a game that when you are a little boy you dream of.’
Belgium were back to full strength, making 10 changes from the ‘B’ team they put out to beat england in the last match of the group stage.
It included a first start at Russia 2018 for Manchester City captain Vincent Kompany and his presence was a major boost for Martinez’s side. But Japan held their highly rated opponents to 0-0 at half-time, defending well and utilising a high-energy press.
Belgium certainly had the majority of possession, with Lukaku and Kompany wasting chances to open the scoring.
But Japan almost stunned their rivals just before the break. Yuto Nagatomo suddenly surged forward and a surprised Courtois almost fumbled his weak, blocked shot into the net — pouncing on the ball just before it looked as if it would trickle over the line.
That should have been a wake-up call, but Belgium were 2-0 down within seven minutes of the restart.
The first came from a superb breakaway which ended with haraguchi put through on goal. he coolly stopped for a second, took a breath and calmly beat Courtois.
eden hazard thumped a shot against the woodwork as Belgium almost equalised immediately. But then Inui struck home the second, a beautifully curled shot from outside the box beating Courtois.
This was now a huge challenge for Belgium, even with their firepower. But they were up to it.
Lukaku had already missed with a header when Vertonghen looped home after keeper