Kevin De Bruyne: Belgium proved World Cup credentials to beat Brazil

Posted Saturday, July 07, 2018 by PA

Kevin De Bruyne felt Belgium proved to the world how good they are with their stunning victory over Brazil on Friday.

Belgium shocked the five-time champions 2-1 in their World Cup quarter-final in Kazan to set up a last-four clash with France.

De Bruyne himself was outstanding, getting on the scoresheet with a fierce long-range strike after his Manchester City team-mate Fernandinho had put through his own net.

Kevin De Bruyne: Belgium proved World Cup credentials to beat Brazil — Belgium enjoyed a famous victory (AP)

Brazil did reply through substitute Renato Augusto late on but Belgium withstood considerable pressure to prevail.

De Bruyne told BBC Sport: “It is not easy to play against Brazil, they are such a wonderful team.

“But the power we have as a team has shown today, especially the first half. I think we played magnificently.

“The second half was very difficult and the last 15 minutes were a character test but I think we showed the world what we are capable of.”

The stats from one of Belgian football''s greatest nights. #BRABEL // #WorldCup pic.twitter.com/t2WGo7P8Np
— FIFA World Cup 🏆 (@FIFAWorldCup) July 6, 2018

There was controversy in the second half as Brazil had a strong penalty appeal turned down but Belgium made the most of their fortune.

Goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois made a number of good saves in the second half, including an excellent fingertip stop to deny Neymar in injury time.

The Chelsea keeper said: “I think I have been unfairly criticised a lot of times this year. OK, maybe sometimes I could have saved more but the amount of things I got I don’t think was always fair.

“I think today I proved why I am here and I am happy with that.”

The foundations for victory were laid by manager Roberto Martinez, who made some tactical changes which, most notably, allowed De Bruyne to play in a more advanced role than previous games.

As a result Belgium dominated the first half but Martinez said the players deserved most credit.

He said: “It is the execution of the tactics that matters. The execution was magnificent. I couldn’t be prouder.

“They were incredible – incredible hearts out there. You have to accept Brazil have this finesse, this quality and they are going to break you down. But they didn’t accept that.

“I didn’t think for one minute they were going to give up. This is something special. These boys deserve to be really special people back in Belgium. I hope everyone in Belgium is very, very proud.”

Brazil coach Tite was magnanimous in defeat, saying in his post-match press conference: “It was a great game with two teams of incredible technical qualities.

“With all the pain I feel, it is difficult to come to talk to you, but if you like football you have to watch this game.

“We had a lot of the game, more possession and created chances. In terms of effectiveness we didn’t translate that into goals. They did.”

Tite was unwilling to discuss his future or the penalty appeal in which Gabriel Jesus appeared to be caught by Vincent Kompany but nothing was given, even after a VAR review.

Tite said: “The only thing I would have liked was to have seen the VAR replays in the play with Gabriel.”