No defense whatsoever. There could have been six or seven goals in the first 20 minutes; Belgium did get the ball into the net.
Now 2-0 Belgium after 70 minutes but it could be 10-8. End to end, lot of scrambling in front of both nets.
Belgium won 2-1, advances to the WC semifinal Tuesday against France. Their defense remained horrible, but goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois was incredible with 8 saves and 17 of Brazil’s 26 shot attempts missed the target. Belgium only tried 8 shots but two hit the onion bag.
I did not see it the way you did. First, Belgium and Brasil do not play like Sweden, who basically hunker down and try to win on defense. They play more of an open game. I don’t think they play horrible defense. The two offense are so good playing that open game that each side is open to counter attacks. Their defense has been quite good against other teams. It is just that the open offense makes the defense looks weaker.
I enjoyed the game. Reminded of some of the EPL games. France-Belgium will be even better.
Most enjoyable match of the tourney to me. I love to watch Brazil play, especially when they fall behind and are forced to throw bodies forward and play fast. Took my breath away. The Belgium keeper was unworldly. He’s the reason they are going forward. Brazil took 26 shots to the waffle king’s 8. A great keeper is a real equalizer.
Didn’t say it wasn’t enjoyable. Wide open game is much better than parking the bus. Unless your team is the one successfully maneuvering the Greyhound. But if you’re giving up 26 shots, you have defensive issues. The Tim Howard game against the Belgians four years ago, where Tim stood on his head for 120 minutes, we allowed 27 shots even with the extra half hour (and if Chris Wondolowski can hit an empty net in stoppage time, we don’t go to the extra 30, win in regulation and Howard is a major American hero).