De Bruyne and Belgium fail to live up to the hype

Kevin De Bruyne threw his hands up in disgust as another pass went astray. Eden Hazard was easily knocked off the ball. Michy Batshuayi was hauled off by his angry coach after a lazy flick to no one at all.

Belgium didn’t live up to the hype of being the secondranked team despite starting the World Cup with a 1-0 victory over Canada yesterday.

Thibaut Courtois saved an early penalty and Batshuayi scored the only goal at Ahmad Bin Ali Stadium to spoil the North American team’s return to the tournament after 36 years.

Aside from the result, there was little for the Belgians to celebrate, with De Bruyne — one of the world’s best players — mocking the decision to name him player of the match.

“No, I don’t think I played a great game,” a miserable-looking De Bruyne said after being told of his award.

“I don’t know why I got the trophy — maybe it’s because of my name.”

Belgium’s aging team was outplayed at times by Canada, which has yet to collect a point or even score a goal in four World Cup matches — including the three games from its debut in 1986.

This should have been the game the Canadians broke that run. Alphonso Davies, the star of Canada’s team, squandered the best chance when his penalty was blocked by Courtois, one of 21 shots taken compared to Belgium’s nine.

“They showed tonight they do belong here,” Canada coach John Herdman said of his players.

One moment of class in the 44th minute wound up deciding the game.

It wasn’t from one of De Bruyne’s brilliant through-balls or Hazard’s mazy dribbles, but instead a simple long ball over the top of Canada’s defence by centre back Toby Alderweireld.

It split the defence and Batshuayi ran through, letting the ball bounce twice before guiding a left-footed finish into the far corner.

“Delighted that, without being ourselves, we won the game,” Belgium coach Roberto Martinez said.

Martinez said it was his team’s worst performance on a technical level since he took charge more than six years ago.

“But was it the worst game?” he added. “No. Because it’s a win.”

In another Group F match yesterday, Morocco held 2018 finalists Croatia to a 0-0 draw in another strong performance by a team from an Arab country.

Morocco’s promising performance came 24 hours after Saudi Arabia sparked the first World Cup in the Middle East into life by beating Lionel Messi’s Argentina in one of the biggest upsets in the tournament’s history.

In a tough Group F, Morocco face No. 2-ranked Belgium next. Croatia play Canada.

I don’t know why I got the trophy — maybe it’s because of my name.

Player of the match Kevin De Bruyne