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Belgian gold curtain: neither decent nor tragic

author:Football Newspaper
Belgian gold curtain: neither decent nor tragic

Reporter Han Yixi reports Only accidents, no surprises, Belgium's "golden generation" collectively ended at the Ben Ali Stadium in Raijan. This is the first time since Belgium has participated in the six World Series this century that it has failed to qualify for the group.

Belgian gold curtain: neither decent nor tragic
Belgian gold curtain: neither decent nor tragic

This is where they made their appearance at the World Cup in Qatar, where they beat Canada 1-0 thanks to a goal from Michy Batshuayi a week ago. When De Bruyne took away the MVP trophy after the game, he was a little embarrassed because he knew he deserved it. Tintin would not have imagined that their World Cup farewell match was also in that place.

After a 2-0 defeat to Morocco in the second round, Belgium's qualification situation took a sharp turn, and the infighting after the match made the whole team angry. However, rebuttal is rebuttal, as manager Martinez said in response to De Bruyne's previous remarks that the team is too old, victory is not about words, it depends on the performance on the field.

In a game of victory and no draw, Martinez finally boldly won Hazard, who has been dubbed the "Burger King" by fans, and Batshuayi, who scored the team's only two goals. Striker Trosar, one of the rumored supporting roles in this infighting, and Mertens, the oldest striker in the team, have entered the starting lineup.

Belgium started with 11 men, with an average age of 31 years and 95 days, making it the second oldest starting line-up for the World Cup this century, behind Australia (31 years, 118 days) against Germany in 2010. The 30-year-old goalkeeper Courtois has made his 100th international start, the seventh player in the team's history to reach this milestone, with the first six, except for Eden Hazard and Romelu Lukaku, who sat next to each other on the bench.

Croatian winger Perisic's opening shot from the post sounded alarm bells for the Belgian, but they did not cheer up, even though the Moroccan's lead on the other side meant they would have to go home even if they drawn. Throughout the first half, only Mertens received De Bruyne's ridiculously high shot from a direct pass that gave a glimpse of the desire to win, and Croatia were happy to spend time with Modric in the breezy control of them.

Belgian gold curtain: neither decent nor tragic
Belgian gold curtain: neither decent nor tragic

Compared with the calm in the first half, the two sides suddenly saw bayonets in the second half. The Croatian had three threatening shots in 10 minutes from three midfielders Mateo Kovacic, Brozovic and Modric, and then all the post-match talk fell on Romelu Lukaku, who replaced Mertens in the second half.

In the 59th minute, Kevin De Bruyne crossed Carrasco in the middle, who saved his one-handed shot, and Romelu Lukaku's right-footed shot bounced off the post; Just two minutes later, De Bruyne's cross from the left flank was deflected by the Belgian defender, and then he faced Romelu Lukaku at the back post and flew the ball head-to-head.

Time passed, Martinez made a desperate bet, and after 70 minutes successively replaced winger Doku, midfielder Thielemann, and in the 87th minute sent Eden Hazard, and the front court was full of attackers. However, in the 90th minute, it was Romelu Lukaku who wasted another chance to take them to the round of 16 from a meter in front of goal. 1 minute later, still Romelu Lukaku! He was half a beat slow in a scuffle in front of goal to allow Croatia's 20-year-old new defensive core Gvadior to successfully tackle the ball, leaving Belgium with no way to return.

The final whistle sounded, and the extremely depressed "Tie Hanhan" hid his head on the shoulder of assistant Henry and cried bitterly, and almost shattered the explosion-proof glass of the bench with a punch. The script is too incredible and too cruel for Lukaku. In just 45 minutes, he equalled Kylian Mbappe's record of missing four major chances at the World Cup. No one could have imagined how the Golden Boot, who scored 68 goals in 104 appearances for the national team, could become that crappy fifth-rate striker overnight.

Belgian gold curtain: neither decent nor tragic
Belgian gold curtain: neither decent nor tragic
Belgian gold curtain: neither decent nor tragic

Before the match, Belgium specially matched a poster featuring him and De Bruyne, following the advertisement taken by Messi and Ronaldo for a luxury brand before the World Cup, playing against each other on a chess board resembling the Croatian flag. Unfortunately, Kevin De Bruyne, who has made many good passes, has brought out his best performance of this World Cup, and all the pots out are left to Romelu Lukaku. Fans will also recall how right De Bruyne's choice was not long ago: "Haaland and Romelu Lukaku? I choose Haaland. "Originally, this night, he could have become a national hero, but in the end, he became the object of almost everyone's contempt or ridicule.

The "golden generation" of European Red Devils, which has been in the field of football for nearly 10 years, has thus completed a collective curtain call performance that is neither decent nor tragic. Fairtonheim and Mertens, 35, and Aldereverd and Witsel, 33, are no longer likely to appear in the World Cup in the United States, Canada, Mexico in four years; Do De Bruyne, Hazard and Menier, 31, or even Carrasco and Romelu Lukaku, 29, still have a chance?

Over the past 10 years, they have revived Belgium's almost forgotten reputation as the "Red Devils of Europe", but unfortunately, having long dominated the FIFA rankings and once ranked first in the global national team, none of them have managed to deliver on their talent in a major tournament – not once.

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