Mikel Merino came off the bench and won the game for Spain, again. He scored a late winner for the second straight game to send Spain to the semifinals.
For the second straight match, it’s Arsenal’s Mikel Merino scoring a late winner to send his side on to the next round. He came off the bench in both matches and scored a stoppage time winner against Portugal and was in the right place in the right time for this spilled save from back up keeper Senne Lammens. You have to wonder if Courtois was in goal, would this rebound chance have been offered to Merino?
The star of the show stopped off for a little post game chat after winning a second straight game for Spain.
Forget about Lamine Yamal! His brother is the new star of the World Cup. The little one who has stole the hearts of millions has his viral moment in the quarterfinals against Belgium.
Spain are moving on to the semifinal after another tense match that went down to the wire. The golden age of Belgium comes to an end as both De Bruyne and Courtois went off with injuries. It’s a bitter moment for a team that knows they are entering a new era. Meanwhile Spain are full of youth, full of class and full of hope for a second star.
Belgium had to push up in the final minutes of the match and there was a late scare for the Spaniards after Unai Simon came way off his line and Charles De Ketelaere took a touch around the keeper but Aymeric Laporte was there for the clearance.
This was the moment that Courtois said good bye to the World Cup dream. Having to come off in the quarterfinal because of injury is one of the worst things that can happen to a player, and you could see how distraught he was to miss the final minutes. This would prove to be a massive moment in the match,.
This might have been the play in which Courtois was injured. He went down right before the hydration break, tried to come back out after the break but lasted just a minute before having to be subbed off.
Thibaut Courtois is one of the best keepers in the world, if not the best, and on Friday he reminded us of that. He came up with some big saves in the first 66 minutes of the match but his day and World Cup would come to a bitter end.
Lamine Yamal was named the MVP of the match for his play on the right wing. He wasn’t able to score a goal, and still hasn’t had the impact that he had in the Euros two years ago, but the good news is he has time to make his mark on this World Cup.
In the 41st minute, Belgium didn’t just equalize. They scored the first goal on Spain in this tournament. Unai Simon and the Spain defense had a clean sheet streak that dated back to the group stages of the Qatar World Cup. Charles De Ketelaere leveled the score with a header right before the halftime break. Spain were better in the first half, but that goal could have changed things coming out for the second half.
