Quarter-Final - Friday 6th July - Brazil 1-2 Belgium

[RandoEFC+]

Sake. Courtois is such an absolute cunt.

[Bluewolf]

Another one bites the dust... 

[Stan]

Honestly hard to pick between Hazard, Fellaini, Witsel or De Bruyne for man of the match. 

I think I'd have to opt for Hazard. Sensational in the first half at the centre of all attacks. First half was much more disciplined and whenever he got the ball, he carried it forward, drew fouls and took the pressure off his defence when Brazil were relentlessly attacking.

Great performance from Belgium to be fair. They've deserved the win.

[Cicero]

Chelsea boys and former Chelsea boys doing it for Belgium

Hope this Golden Generation goes all the way 

[Guest]

Best game of the World Cup for me. Both teams were playing at a tremendous level and there was a ton of quality, with the last few minutes being a proper contest. France - Argentina had goals but really it wasnt as exciting as this if you ask me.

[RandoEFC+]

I was joking about Fellaini earlier but he was in full beast mode tonight. Loved when he played like that for us because he can absolutely dominate games when he's in the right mood and he's deployed correctly. It's a shame he doesn't play like that consistently because it leads to him being labelled as a Plan B player that gets thrown on to score headers when that isn't what he is, or at least not what he should be.

Courtois celebrating like that with the match winning save is making me pretty angry though. Cunt.

[Azeem]

First time in WC that either of Germany Argentina or Brazil aren't in the last 4

[Mel81x+]

Good game that. Belgium deservedly go through and for me Hazard was the man of the match. His ball holding and drawing fouls from a pressured Brazilian team is what saw Belgium through as the game progressed. Courtois was a close second because had he not produced that save from the Coutinho shot this game could have ended very differently.

I am loving the openness of this WC.

[Kowabunga]

 

[Machado]

So the last 6 teams in the WC are European.

 

 

None of them are Portugal 

[Carnivore Chris]

3 minutes ago, Cicero said:

Chelsea boys and former Chelsea boys doing it for Belgium

Hope this Golden Generation goes all the way 

It just shows how many players are being held back by Man United and Chelsea 

[JRRandall]

This has been a great Euro 2018 so far.

[Machado]

1 minute ago, JRRandall said:

This has been a great Euro 2018 so far.

Well done 

[Machado]

Maradona: Brazil were robbed.

[Cicero]

7 minutes ago, The Rebel CRS said:

It just shows how many players are being held back by Man United and Chelsea 

The two time league and FA Cup winner Hazard? Or the two time league and FA Cup winner Courtois? 

I get what you mean, but your statement would make a lot more sense if you replaced Man United and Chelsea, with simply 'Mourinho'. 

[The Artful Dodger]

Fair play to courtois there.

[Guest]

I saw a comment on Twitter in that before, Europe vs South America was organization vs technical ability. We are still better at the latter, but not by the distance we were back then and we haven't really progressed in organization. It's pretty clear as to why we don't have any World Cup winners these days, add to the mess that has become the AFA and you have one less world class team out of the table.

We aren't as messy as the African teams but there is still very much a weak mentality within some of these, as well as huge arrogance. Too many agenda's in this continent that has led us to shit. Brazil, Peru and Colombia have been the biggest culprits. Argentina and Uruguay have been more realistic and with less agendas. 

Its true South America struggles in European world cups but that's hardly an excuse for not having semi-finalists. If you didn't do enough then it's your fault. It's not altitude ffs. Sadly this won't be a lesson for anyone as usual and there needs to be a way to know how to be more domestic. When half the continent uses Argentinian managers, that shows a real lack of variety and that is a problem.

Anyways, seeing as I'm part English they are my team for the rest of the tournament. It's coming home lads.

[Azeem]

Whats interesting is that a lot of these belgian players, they were the "golden generation" 4 years ago when they were in the 26-29 age range.

Now they are in the 30-33 age range, slower and with less anticipation, but, just like japan, they know each other's game inside out and it means that they play very well together and understand their tactical plan perfectly. It is clear from Martinez that his plan was followed perfectly by these players.

[Kowabunga]

4 minutes ago, Cicero said:

The two time league and FA Cup winner Hazard? Or the two time league and FA Cup winner Courtois? 

I get what you mean, but your statement would make a lot more sense if you replaced Man United and Chelsea, with simply 'Fraudulent One'. 

Fixed.

[Azeem]

2 minutes ago, Blue said:

I saw a comment on Twitter in that before, Europe vs South America was organization vs technical ability. We are still better at the latter, but not by the distance we were back then and we haven't really progressed in organization. It's pretty clear as to why we don't have any World Cup winners these days, add to the mess that has become the AFA and you have one less world class team out of the table.

We aren't as messy as the African teams but there is still very much a weak mentality within some of these, as well as huge arrogance. Too many agenda's in this continent that has led us to shit. Brazil, Peru and Colombia have been the biggest culprits. Argentina and Uruguay have been more realistic and with less agendas. 

Its true South America struggles in European world cups but that's hardly an excuse for not having semi-finalists. If you didn't do enough then it's your fault. It's not altitude ffs. Sadly this won't be a lesson for anyone as usual and there needs to be a way to know how to be more domestic. When half the continent uses Argentinian managers, that shows a real lack of variety and that is a problem.

Anyways, seeing as I'm part English they are my team for the rest of the tournament. It's coming home lads.

Oh they'll be going home alright 

[Machado]

3 minutes ago, Devon Von Devon said:

Whats interesting is that a lot of these belgian players, they were the "golden generation" 4 years ago when they were in the 26-29 age range.

Now they are in the 30-33 age range, slower and with less anticipation, but, just like japan, they know each other's game inside out and it means that they play very well together and understand their tactical plan perfectly. It is clear from Martinez that his plan was followed perfectly by these players.

Experience comes with age as well. It's the bright side.

Real Madrid are an "old" team and look at them... bar rare exceptions, experience is an essential factor for winning cup competitions.

[Azeem]

These are the teams Brazil have beaten in World Cup KO's since 2002 Ghana, Chile x2, Colombia and Mexico. Their last win against a fellow giant was probably Netherlands in 1998 (since Germany 2002 weren't any good). That's 20 yrs. At some point, thi becomes a trend.

[Azeem]

Just now, Teso dos Bichos said:

Also what a fucking job by Martinez, his tactics today were on point. 

 Really smart from Martinez to place his front three as he did. Worked perfectly. But then not making any changes and allowing Brazil to take control in the second half could have cost them. But COURTOIS!

[Guest]

Just now, Devon Von Devon said:

These are the teams Brazil have beaten in World Cup KO's since 2002 Ghana, Chile x2, Colombia and Mexico. Their last win against a fellow giant was probably Netherlands in 1998 (since Germany 2002 weren't any good). That's 20 yrs. At some point, thi becomes a trend.

Good point, also that none traditional nations don't know out Brazil. It's kind of a win-lose scenario.

[El Profesor]

Still trying to think what went wrong.

First of all and perhaps what decided this match was Brazil panicking after the 1st goal. The defensive organization dissolved and you can´t do that against such a talented team. Those 15 minutes cost us the match. 

Brazilian mentality is terrible, man. Always has been. There is no in between and rationality. And the 7-1 made it worse. 

Fernandinho and Neymar should share the honors of being the two worst players on the pitch. Neymar was terrible today. He slowed down the game, wasted possession and couldn´t complete one dribble. Meunier put him on his pocket. Despite being 26, he is immature and can´t lead his team at the highest level. The talent is there, but the professionalism leaves something to be desired. 

Coutinho is a funny player. He is obviously a very good footballer, but it´s tough to fit him into a system. He can´t really be winger because he´s not fast and is also easily pushed off the ball. In the midfield, he´s not creative enough. The assist was the only glimpse of creativity from him. It was irritatting to see him always trying to shoot and being blocked. Barcelona has a big problem in their hands. 

There are lot of lessons to be learned, but we always refuse to learn. We have a very good generation for 2022 and we´ll come back strong, but I wonder if those fine details needed to win the World Cup will be there. 

I´m really on the fence whether we should keep or not Tite. 

As for Belgium, at least it´s good to see their golden generation finally making it. Lukaku, Hazard, De Bruyne, Meunier, Courtois, Fellaini and Witsel were huge today. Congrats to them.