FIFA World Cup: Belgium Play Counter-Strike, Leave Brazil Bleeding

The whole world is hailing Belgium coach Roberto Martinez’s tactical masterstroke that effectively took the FIFA World Cup quarterfinals match out of Brazil’s reach in Kazan on July 6 in one half of breathless, end to end football.

Fernandinho scored an own goal, and Kevin de Bruyne doubled Belgium's lead just half an hour into the match, both goals resulting from Belgium’s almost dream-like transition game -- the quick counters leaving the Brazilian defence struggling to even keep up, forget covering the bases. De Bruyne's strike, from a brilliant pass from Romelu Lukaku, will definitely be ranked as one of the goals of the tournament.

Substitute Renato Augusto pulled a goal back for Brazil in the 76th minute but the “golden generation” of Belgium  withstood the tense finale to win 2-1 and book a semi-final match against France.

Also Read | FIFA World Cup: Croatia and the Demons From History

It was clear that Brazil had no idea how to deal with Belgium's pace and precision on the counter, especially during the first half. De Bruyne termed it as a “beautiful victory”, attributing it to coach Martinez’s brilliant shift in tactics.

"I think we switched things up tactically," Man of the Match De Bruyne said. “Romelu [Lukaku] and Eden [Hazard] changed position and tried to create many opportunities with Marcelo on the flank. I think in the first half we played very well, generated a lot of opportunities and they didn't really know what they had to do. In the second half they changed tactically and Brazil were better, but even then we managed to create opportunities.”

De Bruyne felt Brazil could not adapt to the tactics quickly and that cost them the match.

Coach Martinez played Lukaku and Hazard wide, while De Bruyne was playing in the middle, just behind the strikers. Moving Lukaku to the right -- an idea Martinez had worked before when the duo were at Everton -- was the master move of the match, as that made it difficult for Brazilian defenders to mark him. That, in turn, freed up De Bruyne in the middle, giving him the space to score.

Also Read | What India Can Learn From England Squad's Show at FIFA World Cup

Of course, Brazil also suffered a bit from luck as well as from the form of Belgian goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois, who had the match of his life at Kazan Arena.

Courtois produced a string of saves – including a tricky curler from Neymar late in the match.

“I know Neymar likes to curl it that way, I was ready and made a good save," Courtois told BBC Sport after the match. "Our tactical plan was great. We felt it was our day. It is a childhood dream to be in the World Cup. It's incredible. This team wants to win every game, against England people said it was better to lose but we won the game, we have confidence in our team."

Also Read | FIFA World Cup: Argentina are dead. Long Live Argentina

De Bruyne, meanwhile, reminded everyone of the enormity of the occasion and the road ahead.

"We've achieved something really beautiful and it's not easy as you have 10 to 15 teams coming here to win,” said De Bruyne. “Of course we are proud to reach the semi-finals and we are going to do our utmost to win the match against France.”