INGLEWOOD, Calif. — Only minutes into the second half of Friday’s World Cup quarterfinal against heavily favored Spain, Belgium goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois boomed a goal kick downfield and felt a twinge in his thigh.
He initially felt good enough to keep playing, but the pain resurfaced each time he tried to kick the ball long.
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Rather than ask Courtois to fight through the pain, Belgium head coach Rudi Garcia removed the Real Madrid goalkeeper in the 71st minute of a 1-1 match. Courtois exited the field wiping tears from his eyes as backup Senne Lammens entered.
“I wanted to continue, but the coach wanted someone 100%,” Courtois said. “I wanted to try to play maybe 5-10 more minutes because, in goal, I was feeling good, I was making saves and I was not disturbed to make those saves. I was only disturbed to kick long.”
A dramatic moment became a decisive one less than 20 minutes later when Lammens made a critical mistake at the worst possible time. The 24-year-old Manchester United goalkeeper spilled a routine shot from Spain center back Pau Cubarsí into the penalty area. Spain’s Mikel Merino was the quickest to react, slamming home the rebound to propel his team to a 2-1 victory and a berth in the World Cup semifinals against France.
For Courtois, it was a gutting way to potentially end his World Cup career. The 34-year-old has been one of the world’s best goalkeepers for a decade, but there are no guarantees he’ll still be at that level four years from now.
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For Lammens, it was the cruelest possible introduction to World Cup soccer. The young goalkeeper helped save Manchester United’s campaign last season with his calmness and composure, but this was just his third appearance for Belgium’s national team.
“It’s a learning moment for him,” Belgian defender Brandon Mechele said. “It was not the most easy ball. I think it bounced just in front of him. We as defenders also could have helped him by following maybe more.
Added Courtois: “He’s a strong guy. He’s a strong personality. I’m sure he will be fine.”
It was a remarkable achievement for Belgium to push talent-laden Spain to the brink under any circumstances. That the Belgians did it shorthanded made it even more impressive.
Senne Lammens watches Belgium’s World Cup slip away as Mikel Merino’s late winner sends Spain into celebration and the semifinals.
(MediaNews Group/Pasadena Star-News via Getty Images via Getty Images)
Even before the injury to Courtois, Belgium was already down two of its top midfielders. Captain Youri Tielemans suffered an injury during pregame warmups and had to be scratched from the starting lineup. Amadou Onana was already out for the rest of the World Cup after suffering a torn knee ligament against the U.S. on Monday in the round of 16.
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Somehow, a Belgium team that was supposedly past its prime still put up a fight. Courtois, Kevin De Bruyne, Romelu Lukaku and other remnants of Belgium’s aging golden generation turned back the clock. Younger stars like Jeremy Doku and Charles De Ketelaere also did their part.
While Spain dominated possession from the opening kickoff until the final whistle, Belgium stayed organized on defense and did not concede many scoring chances. The Belgians also managed to become the first team at this World Cup to score against Spain when De Bruyne, Timothy Castagne and De Ketelaere combined for a superb equalizer in the 41st minute.
Superb vision on a one-time pass from De Bruyne set up Castagne with room to make a cross. De Ketelaere pinned Cubarsí in the box, got across him and headed the ball home, delivering the first World Cup goal scored against Spain in 649 minutes.
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There were a couple half chances during the second half for Belgium both before and after Merino’s go-ahead goal, but the Belgians weren’t able to capitalize.
As a result, they’ll leave another major tournament with no trophy but plenty of reason to be proud. They’ve advanced to the quarterfinals or beyond at three of the past four World Cups.
“In the big tournaments almost always we have done well,” Courtois said. “A lot of times we get criticism that your golden generation never won anything. We are Belgium. We are not Spain or England or France.”
