Belgium were eliminated from the World Cup in the group stage. There is a time and a place for it.
With the qualification on the line, Roberto Martinez made some big calls in his starting lineup. He dropped his captain and didn't start him.
The draw was enough for Croatia to manage the game well. They only conceded one chance to their opponents in the first half, after they thought they had a penalty.
The goal was to change the game and get his team into the next round. He could have done it and should have done it. This wasn't the World Cup or the Belgian one.
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Their last dance was supposed to be this one. After ten years of competing in big tournaments and trying to win a trophy, this World Cup was their last chance to get together. The things turned sour. On and off the field, this has been a bad tournament. Belgium has a bad image with poor performances, tensions, controversy and negative headlines.
Roberto Martinez's future is far away from the Belgian capital. Jan Vertonghen and Dries Mertens are both 35 years old and this will be the last time they play together.
The captain of the team has been through the World Cup. He may have a long thought about his international future even if he is only 31 years old. It is a sad end to a wonderful story but it is time to rebuild. The process should have begun a long time ago. They all paid for it.
He might have thought that he had to change something to wake his players up. He might have been too adventurous in his team selection. Roberto was correct in getting it wrong. Belgium are out of the World Cup in the group stage due to his decisions not paying off.
The decision to start Trossard as a false 9 didn't work out. He wasn't big enough on the Croatia defense. Kevin De Bruyne and Dries Mertens were in charge of the creativity part of the game, which was to play a 3-4-2-1 with the ball. The front three didn't work, except for a great ball from KDB.
Without the ball, the formation became a 4-4-2 which was unbalanced. The Belgian head coach changed something at the half time break for the third game in a row. After coming on, he had a chance to score but hit the post. In this World Cup so far, he has given more of a threat to Belgium than any other player. The player grew into the game and created a lot of chances.
It was not sufficient. The humiliation of being eliminated so early in the tournament is vastly on him.
Croatia knows how to manage a game. A draw was enough for them to qualify for the last 16 and they were very happy to get the point they needed, even if they didn't score. They suffered a little bit at the start of the second half when Romelu Lukaku came on and hit the post.
The masters of controlling games are Luka Modric and his teammates. It was perfect on when to slow the game down and when to speed it up. They got a foul at the right time and took a while to take the free kicks. This was the best they could do since they don't have a top goal scorer.
Croatia: Dejan Lovren 5, Josip Juranovic 5, Borna Sosa 6, Luka Modric 7, Mateo Kovacic 6, and Marko Livaja 3.
Lovro Majer was on the subs.
Thibaut Courtois 7, Thomas Meunier 7, Toby Alderweireld 6, Jan Vertonghen 6, Timothy Castagne 5, and Leander Dendoncker 4.
Subs: Jeremy Doku, Romelu Lukaku, and Youri Tielemans.
Croatia's Marcelo Brozovic is the best.
Luka Modric could have been in the middle. He had 98 touches, made eight passes and had a good shot saved by Courtois. He is a joy to watch in a game like this.
The worst performer was Leandro Trossard, Belgium.
He thought he deserved to start. Today was his chance and he didn't show anything. He didn't make a difference in the game. He was so poor that he was taken off before the hour ended.
After the game,Thierry Henry consoled a sad Romelu Lukaku.
Thierry Henry with Romelu Lukaku after the match 💔😥 pic.twitter.com/NpPWCnIrUQ
— ESPN FC (@ESPNFC) December 1, 2022
Castagne said that they had a feeling that Roberto would leave. It's a shame to end this way. He had many Belgian footballs. The last few years were great for us, but it's a shame that it ended with a failure. He only spoke to us a short time after the game, but he will probably speak to us again tonight or tomorrow.
The highest number of goals scored by any player at the World Cup will be achieved by Romelu Lukaku.
Croatia will play the first place team from Group E.
The Belgians have been eliminated from the World Cup.
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