Belgium suffered more than expected to defeat fast paced Canada and get off on the right foot

Belgium suffered more than expected to win 1-0 at Canada on the first date of F group of the world Cup. The penalty saved by Thibaut Courtois and the goal by Michy Batshuayi are the two actions in which an electric match between two very unequal a priori rivals could be summed up.

The Red Devils arrived in the Middle East aiming to surpass their third-place finish four and a half years ago in Russia. For the “Golden Generation” of the Belgian school, Qatar could be the last chance to give the unprecedented and most important title in history to a country that in the modern era of football was characterized by talent and by the difficulty of giving the last step to glory

For its part, Canada is not the same as Mexico in 1986, where a large part of that team, which lost all games, scored no goals, recruited foreigners ahead of these times of multinational teams and half of the team played fast indoor football. .

Historical precedents predicted a victory. Reports of both, although those from North America are well advanced, did not raise any suspicions about what was ultimately the match at the Ahmad bin Ali stadium.

The Canadians printed overflow, dizziness, speed and depth in the first few minutes. Suffocating pressure and good ball control hurt a Belgium who, before starting, already seemed to be asking them to throw in the towel. I almost passed out.

So much so that, before ten minutes and through the VAR, the referee Janny Sikazwe, from Zambia, charged a penalty for a handball after a shot by Tajon Buchanan, the right wing emulating on his side we scattered them that Alphonso Davies across the front sector.

It was Davies himself, a Bayern Munich player, who got in front of the ball to face the enormous Belgian goalkeeper from twelve paces. And went Courteousthe 1st Champion of the Champions League, the one who demonstrated his greatness, not only for his 199 centimeters, but also because he saved the penalty.

The former Chelsea and Atlético de Madrid player became the support of Roberto Martínez’s team in the first half, harassed by the Canadians led by Englishman John Herdman. The 0 to 0 was, until then, his responsibility.

Towards the end of the first half, Belgium managed to slow play with a little more precision than their midfielders in short touches and looking for the rival box, after long minutes in which their elite players, such as Kevin De Bruyne and Eden Hazard appeared little or nothing.

However, at 43 minutes, batshuayi, replacing the injured Romelu Lukaku, picked up a long ball and took advantage of rival defenders’ lack of intelligence. The goalscorer, who plays for Turkish football, cleared the cross to make it 1-0.

For the second stage, the Canadians were to be expected to launch their electric attack again, but the legs no longer responded as they had at the beginning. The work of the Belgians gave the team more control this Wednesday dressed in red with flames on the details of the shirt.

They distributed not too sharp chances and some hard fouls which Sikazwe punished with yellow cards.

The match gradually faded and the three points, so precious in the early days for those who aspire to fight for the Scudetto, went to those who have that goal. Canadians have shown that they have changed over the past nearly four decades, but zero, for them, remains intact.

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