Spain –
Belgium – 2:1 (Ruiz, 30, Merino, 88 – De Ketelare, 41).
The Red
Fury scored a quick goal. Lamin Yamal passed to Pedro Porro, who shot at Dani
Olmo. Belgian goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois parried Yamal's shot, but Fabian Ruiz
was the first to pick up – 1-0. Jeremy Doku did not keep up with Porro, who
managed to shoot through. Yamal could have doubled the score from the standard,
but Yamal Courtois's deflection shot was parried aside. Alex Baena hit the bar
from a sharp angle.
However,
the Belgians' response was not long in coming. Kevin De Bruyne rolls Timothy
Castagna to the right flank of the attack and the Fulham defender conveniently
hung the ball on the near post, where Atalanta midfielder Charles De Ketelare
won the upper hand and sent the ball into the net of Unai Simon's goal.
Athletic Bilbao's goalkeeper kept the goal "dry" for 649 minutes at
this World Cup, but the Belgians still soaked it.…
At the
beginning of the second half, De Bruyne missed a pass from outside the penalty
area and Maxime De Kuyper was substituted in the 60th minute. Rudy Garcia made
a triple substitution – he removed De Kuyper, Hans Vanaken and Leandro
Trossard, releasing Joaquin Seis, Axel Witsel and Romelu Lukaku. However, this
reinforcement did not give any result. It was a response to the exit of Pedri
and Ferran Torres instead of Ruiz and Baena.
In the
second half, there was a key moment when the main referee of the match, Michael
Oliver, did not give a penalty after touching the ball in the hand of a Spanish
player. There was a shot from Nicholas Ruskin, the ball was intercepted by
Emerick Laporte with his head, the ball hit Rhodri's hand from his head, and it
was set aside. However, the referee for the VAR, Australian Jarred Gillett, did
not see any crime. Supposedly, if the ball hits from your own, then the hand
does not count.…
When it
seemed that the match was heading into the third half, the Spanish substitute
played. Arsenal midfielder Mikel Merino replaced Olmo in the 86th minute. And
it was he who scored the winning goal for the Reds. It also helped them that
Thibaut Courtois was injured, leaving the field in tears. His replacement,
Senne Lammens, the goalkeeper of Manchester United, did not keep the ball in
his hands after a long-range shot by Pau Kubarsi. It seemed like the ball was
simple, but the goalkeeper caught it clumsily and the ball bounced a couple of
meters from his hands, which was enough for Merino.…
Well, let's
see if Spain can beat France in the semifinals, the match will take place on
Wednesday, July 15. We'll see!
