SEATTLE (AP) — Immediately after Romelu Lukaku Scored the winning goal They won 4-1 against the United States.Belgium’s all-time leading scorer put his right hand to his ear.
on American soil and in the aftermath of American star forward Folarin Balogun being cleared to play after the game. One match red card suspension was controversial by FIFALukaku captivated the crowd of 66,925 at Lumen Field. The Red Devils then took to social media. to make it more fun They thought it was no laughing matter and posted the words “Please reverse this” above the photo.
“There is always justice somewhere in life,” said Belgian midfielder Nicolas Raskin. “The fact that something like that happened, I don’t think it was fair for us, and I think today gave us that little bit of (motivation) that we needed to win the game.”
of The Belgian Football Federation has asked FIFA for an explanation. Regarding the decision to let Balogun play. However, many of the Belgian players insisted they didn’t need any more motivation for Monday’s game.
Belgium extended their unbeaten record to 18 games. Defeated America in the round of 16 for the first time in 12 years.
American players, including defender Alex Freeman, entered that night hoping for revenge for 2014. They were defeated 5-2 in a World Cup warm-up match in March.. Belgian captain Youri Tielemans and his colleagues came up with another idea and jointly submitted clinical results.
“We had a lot of intensity and quality,” Tielemans said. “Defensively, we were really compact. We tried to put pressure on them and it worked really well for us. We also scored at the right moments.”
Lukaku put the finishing touches on the victory, but it wasn’t Belgium’s so-called ‘golden generation’ who led the team to victory. Jeremy Doku did not start for the Red Devils and Kevin De Bruyne also did not come off the bench.
It wasn’t Lukaku or De Bruyne, the greatest goalscorers in the history of the Belgian national team, but Charles de Ketelaère who scored twice. De Quetelaere considered the game to be the Red Devils’ biggest performance ever, and the four goals were the most the United States has allowed in a World Cup game since losing 5-1 to Czechoslovakia in 1990.
“It feels great to have this performance in this match and to come out on top,” De Quetelaele said. “It’s great for the team and for the country.”
Hans Vanaken also scored for the Belgian national team, and their chances of progressing to the round of 16 were in doubt. Also required to play in America Defeated Senegal in the round of 32 with a dramatic comeback from a 2-goal deficit.
The Red Devils had a shaky start to the tournament, settling for draws against Iran and Egypt. If not An overwhelming 5-1 victory over New ZealandBelgium may have failed to advance through the group stage, just as they narrowly missed against Qatar four years ago.
“I think we could have done better in the group stage,” midfielder Dodi Lukebakio said. “But we have grown. Today we are showing that we are more confident. And with the results, it helps us a lot. And we are definitely showing our quality.”
Red Devils next match 2010 Champions Spain They will play for a spot in the semifinals against either France or Morocco on Friday in Inglewood, California.
Coach Rudi Garcia will play the match without midfielder Amadou Onana, who suffered a “serious injury” while marking American forward Christian Pulisic in the 19th minute. Vanaken was brought on in place of Onana in the 21st minute.
Barring Onana’s injury, which coach Garcia called a “dark cloud” hanging over the team, it was Belgium’s night. Considering the preparations for the game, in which President Donald Trump also participated Call to FIFA President Gianni Infantino to review Balogun’s red cardwhich made the victory even sweeter.
“Our job was to show on the pitch that we are here for football,” Tielemans said. “We had no control over that decision, we had to discuss it on the field, and we did it today.”
Veteran goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois doesn’t seem fazed by the pre-match drama.
“I laughed when I read the book,” he said. “I was more confident that we would beat America than Senegal, because Senegal is a better soccer team than America.”
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