De Bruyne picks off Brazil as Martinez’s brave plan pays off
CHIEF FOOTBALL WRITER Great World Cup games can be the epic comeback tale and others, like this one, are about how one team stands firm in the gale of a relentless attacking force, although quite how Belgium hung on to reach the semi-finals and send Brazil home they may never know.
It was another Russia 2018 classic, featuring a Belgium side who plundered two goals against their famous opposition in the first 31 minutes after which the men in the yellow shirts would spend the next hour in thrilling perpetual chase. Led by their little general Philippe Coutinho, and perhaps with a little longer at their disposal, it would have been Brazil in the semi-final against France in St Petersburg on Tuesday.
But instead the last South American side are out, beaten by the shrewdness of Kevin De Bruyne on the counter-attack and Marouane Fellaini and his fellow midfield sentry Axel Witsel, the two unmistakable guard dogs of this Belgium team. This was the golden generation of Belgium against a country where every generation is golden, and the great attacking talent of De Bruyne, Eden Hazard and Romelu Lukaku prevailed.
Not as the dominant team in possession because Brazil were that, and not in terms of chances created in which the Brazilians also led but it was in exploiting their opportunities in which Belgium prevailed. Afterwards Roberto Martinez pointed out that to beat Brazil, it is not enough to put your talent up against theirs and hope to win – even with the talent in his side. Rather, you have to have a plan.
This was a great night for Martinez and his assistant Thierry Henry whose strategy carried Belgium over the line by the skin of their teeth. Fellaini in midfield with Witsel in front of a back three initially and Lukaku and Hazard wide, allowing De Bruyne to come through the middle. They left two up at all times, taking a risk on exploiting Brazil’s vulnerability in the wide positions and although Belgium’s first was a Fernandinho own goal, their second, from De Bruyne, was an out-of-your-seat, counter-attacking classic.
“Brazil bring the psychological barrier, they wear the yellow shirt and they have won five World Cups,” Martinez said. “The players have to believe in a plan. I have never lost on the tactics board but I have lost many on the pitch. It is all about the execution on the pitch. There was a lot of threat to stop. We wanted to have a threat and Eden and Romelu gave us that with their position on the pitch. It was brave but if you execute it well it gives you a period when the opposition don’t know how to deal with it.”
This was the man who began his management career at Swansea City and Wigan, bringing the curtain down on a Brazil World Cup. Tite, his Brazilian counterpart, refused to blame the decisions of the Serb referee Milorad Mazic who might have gone to VAR for a penalty area foul by Vincent Kompany on Gabriel Jesus in the second half. “I don’t want to talk about it because it sounds like whining,” Tite said. “But I would like to have seen VAR in the incident with Gabriel.”
His team had dominated the second half especially but they had left themselves too much to do, even with the late goal from substitute Renato Augusto headed in from Coutinho’s cross.
For Neymar it was an indifferent night, with at least one dreadful dive when Fellaini was hunting him carefully in the Belgian area early in the second half.
The little crown prince of Brazilian football was part of a team that was unlucky at times but it is he who reputation dictates is supposed to be able to rescue these situations. He almost did in the final moments of injury-time when Thibaut Courtois thrust a glove upwards to push a shot from Neymar over the bar.
There were no tears afterwards this time from the man who loves to be at the centre of attention, because he will have known that no one would be buying it.
Later De Bruyne would talk about the sacrifices he made for his team, “I don’t care where I play,” he said. “I need to contribute… I did my job and made sure the team was calm in difficult situations.”
The last two South American sides, Brazil and Uruguay, were sent home from the competition on the same day and, as with the last three World Cups, 2018 will have a European champion. Brazil missed the suspended Casemiro and his replacement Fernandinho glanced in a silly near-post own-goal under no pressure other than the jump by another City man, Brazil team-mate Jesus who failed to score in his fifth World Cup game. Before then Thiago Silva had hit the post from a corner and the goal shifted the dynamic of the game. Belgium’s threeman defence switched to four and they struck again on the counter. On 31 minutes, Lukaku drove for-