Alphonso Davies fluffed his chance to score Canada’s first ever World Cup goal when his weak penalty was stopped by Thibaut Courtois and Belgium went on to claim a scarcely deserved 1-0 victory
but an utterly anonymous 45 minutes. Was one victim of what you can only assume was a Martinez rocket at half-time, crooked for Onana.– Carelessness in possession summed up Belgium’s sloppy first half hour and very lucky not to give away a second penalty of the game when Laryea got the other side of him.– An attacking selection at wing-back that perhaps suggested Martinez underestimated the threat of Canada. Crooked at half-time.
Belgium survived, just. But they will need to regroup, for this was the sort of display that laid bare their collective age in vivid technicolour, their flat-footed back three looking every day of their collective 95 years against a team with speed and spirit. Youri Tielemans is no veteran but he was off at half-time, unable to gain a foothold as Canada’s midfield foot soldiers hunted in packs. Everton’s Amadou Onana was brought on to disrupt but couldn’t hack the pace either, picking up a warranted booking within a quarter of an hour. Roberto Martinez selected Eden Hazard, but he was outplayed by opposite number Junior Hoilett.
Still, the Canadian performance feels like a feather in the cap for John Herdman, whose courageous philosophy was for his team to press, press and press again.who freely admits he has a chip on his shoulder – justifiably so when he was told by an ex-England international during his days working at Sunderland’s academy that he would never make it as a manager because he hadn’t played at the top level.
He pulled his team into a tight circle at the end and delivered a stirring consolation address to his devastated players. Herdman has built a formidable unit to represent his adopted nation and you suspect this tournament will not be the last we see of him at football’s top table.– A nice easy early touch and then a very quiet first half until his defence let him down just before half-time.
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