Despite advancing to the quarterfinals of the FIFA World Cup, Belgium continued to display alarmingly recurring traits in not being able to put away lesser competition.
The Red Devils advanced from the round of 16 after extra time by winning 2-1 however they came perilously close to being dumped out of the tournament by the USA.
Before the World Cup started, the popular narrative about the Belgium squad had been that while they are extremely talented, they lack experience at this stage. Unfortunately for Belgian supporters, that trait has shown through so far. Belgium needed late goals to dispatch three inferior opponents in the group stage – Russia, Algeria and South Korea – and also played lackadaisically against the USA, despite dominating possession.
While the first half was a somewhat cagey affair, the Europeans thoroughly dominated the second, but proved wasteful in the final third and failed to score. Some of that had to do with the heroic, all-time performance of American goalkeeper Tim Howard, but a team that enjoyed as much possession and as much time in the opponent’s half as Belgium did should have scored.
The Red Devils were almost punished for their wastefulness, as the USA’s Chris Wondolowski badly mishit a glorious opportunity in stoppage time that would have given the Americans the shock win. And even after going up 2-0 in extra time, The USA pulled one back and put serious pressure on Thibaut Courtois goal for the equaliser.
The truth is that Belgium’s ‘golden generation’ have not only been grinding out wins, but luck has stood beside them on many occasions in this edition of the FIFA World Cup. Whether it’s the Aleksandr Kokorin chance against Russia or the Wondolowski sitter against the US, the Red Devils have rode their luck more often than not.
With Lionel Messi, Gonzalo Higuain, Sergio Aguero and the rest of the Argentina national team awaiting in the quarters, Belgium simply must play up to the level of their talent and not sleepwalk through large portions of the match, lest they find themselves on the wrong side of a hiding from the Argentines.
