Brazil must stop European teams
Beating a European team in the KO stages for the first time in 16 years could be key for Brazilians to winning the World Cup
KAZAN, RUSSIA— To get past Belgium in the quarterfinals at the World Cup, Brazil has to do something it has not been able to do since it last won the tournament in 2002: Overcome European opposition in the knockout stages. Since beating Germany, 2-0, in the 2002 World Cup final, the five-time winner has been eliminated by European sides in the three subsequent competitions.
KAZAN, Russia—To get past Belgium in the quarterfinals at the World Cup, Brazil has to do something it has not been able to do since it last won the tournament in 2002: overcome European opposition in the knockout stages.
Since beating Germany 2-0 in the 2002 World Cup final, the five-time winner has been eliminated by European sides in the three subsequent competitions. Brazil lost to France and the Netherlands in the quarterfinals of the 2006 and 2010 World Cups and was humiliated, 7-1, by Germany in the semifinals four years ago at home.
Fortunately for the Selecao, Belgium has a poor record against South American sides at the World Cup.
Not only has Belgium not won any of its games against South American teams in the knockout stages, it hasn’t even managed to score a goal. Most recently, Belgium lost 1-0 to Argentina in the 2014 quarterfinals.
The core of that side remains in place in Russia, where Belgium has won all four of its matches, including coming back from 2-0 down to beat Japan in the round of 16 with a thrilling counterattack in the final sec- onds of injury time.
Everyone knew about the array of talent running through the Belgium side, from Thibaut Courtois in goal to Kevin De Bruyne in midfield and Eden Hazard and Romelu Lukaku up front.
The main questions following disappointing defeats in the 2014 World Cup and the 2016 European Championship centered on the team’s character.
That 3-2 victory over Japan was the first time a team has overcome a two-goal deficit to win outright since West Germany beat England in 1970.