lost to spain<\/span> He had an obvious injury in Friday’s second half.<\/p>\nCourtois burst into tears on the Belgian sideline after being replaced by Senne Ramens in the 71st minute of the 1-1 match. Spain won 2-1 and advanced to the semi-finals.<\/p>\n
“It’s not satisfying when you have to withdraw in the quarterfinals of a World Cup,” said Courtois, who made four saves before leaving.<\/p>\n
The long-time Real Madrid keeper collapsed to the grass with an apparent thigh injury four minutes before being substituted and was treated during a hydration break. Courtois said he felt a sore muscle during a long kick at the start of the second half.<\/p>\n
\u201cThen I made a few saves and felt okay, so I thought, \u2018Okay, let\u2019s keep going.\u2019 Then I kicked it long again and it felt a little bit better, so I knew it was a muscular one and I have to be careful,\u201d he said. “I wanted to play another five or 10 minutes and see how things were going.” He looked good in goal, was making saves, and didn’t get upset. The only time he got upset was when he took a long kick.”<\/p>\n
Courtois’ injury did not recover enough to continue, so Belgium replaced Courtois with Ramens, a Manchester United keeper who had not yet played in the World Cup.<\/p>\n
Then, in the 88th minute, Lamence spilled a long-range shot from Pau Kvarsi, and Mikel Merino converted the rebound to advance Spain to the semi-finals and a match against France.<\/p>\n
“I gave him a big hug, but I can’t do more than that right now,” Courtois said. “He’s a great goalkeeper. He’s only going to get better.”<\/p>\n
This was Courtois’ 21st World Cup appearance, making him the second-best goalkeeper in the tournament’s history behind Germany’s Manuel Neuer.<\/p>\n
Courtois made 10 saves and conceded five goals in Belgium’s first five games at this year’s World Cup.<\/p>\n
Fabian Ruiz scored Spain’s goal in the 30th minute, but Belgian forward Charles de Quetelaere scored the goal. first goal conceded to Spain<\/span> 41 minutes for the entire World Cup.<\/p>\n“We’re very proud of what we’ve done so far,” Courtois said. \u201cWe are a small country with less than 12 million people, but we have great results in major tournaments.\u201d<\/p>\n
___<\/p>\n
See more of AP’s World Cup coverage here<\/span><\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n
\n
Source link <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"INGLEWOOD, Calif. (AP) \u2014 Belgian goaltender Thibaut Courtois has left the team. world cup quarterfinals lost to spain He had an obvious injury in Friday’s second half. Courtois burst into tears on the Belgian sideline after being replaced by Senne Ramens in the 71st minute of the 1-1 match. Spain won 2-1 and advanced to<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":38953,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[28],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-38952","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-soccer"},"yoast_head":"\n
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