One more match for the Belgian national team on this World Cup. Not the big final unfortunately, but the 'small final' with a bronze medal at stake. It would be a historical achievement for Belgium if we won today, because the last time we got this far on a World Cup in 1986, we lost this match against France (always them...). Our opponent was a familiar one, England. We all remembered the non-match against England on the final matchday of the group stage, where both teams didn't feel like winning and grabbing the top spot, until Januzaj decided the match with a beautiful goal. If you don't remember this, I do not blame you. Today's match could only be better, although a victory would only be a small consolation for missing the final.
The line-ups at least showed both sides had the right intentions this time. Belgium made only two changes to the team that lost to France: Meunier retook his usual spot on right back at the expense of the unlucky Dembele, youngster Tielemans replaced Fellaini in midfield. England made 5 changes to the team that lost to Croatia: Jones, Rose, Loftus-Cheek, Delph and Dier all came into the team. Walker, Young, Henderson, Lingard and Alli were given some rest or were injured. Belgium took a flying start: after just 4 minutes Lukaku found Chadli, whose cross was finished by his colleague on the other side Meunier, who got in front of Rose. 1 could have become 2 when a deflected shot from De Bruyne was stopped by an excellent reflex from Pickford. De Bruyne sent Lukaku through the defense but he missed his controle. The battle between strikers Lukaku (4 goals) and Kane (6 goals) was another match for the Golden Boot. I do not want to give the impression it was one-way traffic. England regularly knocked on the door of Courtois as well. Attempts of Delph and Loftus-Cheek couldn't bother the goalkeeper too much. The best chance fell for Kane, but the leading scorer's finishing had not been on point anymore in the last matches. The first quarter of the match was very entertaining, but he level dropped a little bit towards the end of the first half. Chadli injured himself during one of his rushes: a bitter end for one of the surprises of the tournament. The heavy tournament was beginning to weigh on the players' bodies. A few deflected shots from Belgium was the best we got to see. Lukaku was send one more time through the defense with only Stones in front of him, which he could not get past.
England had to improve in the second half, and tried to do so by bringing in the pace of Rashford and Lingard. The substitutions payed off because England laid down the law on Belgium for a big part of the second half. That did not lead to a lot of big chances however. Kane came close when when his feet were just a size to small to tap in a wild shot from Lingard. Belgium could feed on their trademark counter attacks, led by our star players Hazard en De Bruyne. De Bruyne awarded Lukaku another golden opportunity to score his fifth of the tournament, but just like in the first half he missed his control. It was the last action from him, because he got taken off for Mertens. No more goals for Big Rom. England pushed on more and more to get that equalizer. They seemed to have found it when Dier slipped through the defense and lobbed the ball over Courtois... but Alderweireld slid in like his life depended on it and cleared it just in time. The set pieces of England were dangerous like they have been throughout the whole tournament when Maguire got the ball on his head. Belgium survived some very difficult 10 minutes in which England dominated, and managed to break out again. With 10 minutes to go, they set up what could have been the counter attack of the tournament: a beautiful one-time combination with the necessary back heels resulted in a cross from Mertens for Meunier who took his chance without any hesitation, but he was denied his second goal by some excellent goalkeeping from Pickford. It was just a short delay, because a few minutes later De Bruyne found Hazard again, who was much quicker than Phil Jones- the defender must have had a deja vu from the FA Cup Final- and this time, Pickford was beaten. The cherry on the pie for the Belgian national team and Hazard in particular.
Getting the third place might not compensate that one fatal corner against France, but it is a nice way to round up what has been an amazing tournament. Tomorrow, we can go celebrate in Brussels one more time. I will take the opportunity to pay my respects to our opponents England as well. I might have been harsh on them in this blog because their football was not always a joy to watch. But what their young team achieved on this World Cup, is very promising for the future.
One more match to go now: the big final tomorrow!