Belgium stuns Brazil to move into semifinals
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, Russia, sending Neymar home without living up to the expectations of being soccer’s most expensive player.
Belgium scored the decisive goal on a counterattack 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 K om pan y’ s header land in his own net in the 13thminute.
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 aWorld Cup— also in 1982 and 2006 — the semifinals will feature only European teams. Belgium and France will meet in St. Petersburg on Tuesday. The next day inMoscow, it will be either England or Sweden against either Russia or Croatia. The other two quarterfinal matches will be played Sunday.
Humiliated 7- 1 by Germany in the semifinals fours year 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.
There is guaranteed to be a fourth straight European team winning the World Cup on July 15 in Moscow. Belgium, which finished fourth at the 1986 tournament and has never won the European Championship, will hope its golden generation can deliver its first trophy.
France 2, Uruguay 0
A shot that flew directly at the hands of the opposing goalkeeper turned into a goal for Antoine Griezmann.
The France striker scored the second goal in his team’s victory over Uruguay, 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.
The victory gave France a spot in the semifinals. The 1998 champions will face Belgium on Tuesday in St. Petersburg.
Griezmann didn’t celebrate what was his third goal of the tournament.
“Iwas playing against a lot of friends,” said Griezmann, who is teammates with Uruguay defenders Diego Godin and Jose Gimenez at Atletico Madrid, “so I think it was normal not to celebrate.”
Raphael Varane gave France the lead with a header in the 40th minute. Griezmann sent in a free kick from the right side and Varane raced across the area. He got his head to the ball and sent it into the far corner behind Muslera.