World Cup: Belgium win but fail to impress

MY prediction was that Belgium, ranked number two in the tournament (behind Brazil), and with a total of 936 international caps in their squad, would be in the World Cup final come 18 December.

Well, not on this ‘poorformance’.

Despite beating Canada 1-0, a game they should have easily won on paper, they created relatively few clear chances and allowed the Maple Leaves an incredible 22 shots at goal.

The fact that only two of these were on target is all that saved them embarrassment. A better team would have demolished them.

Add to this the fact that Canada missed a ninth-minute penalty after a dubious hand ball decision.

The lively Alphonso Davies was given the responsibility and he hit it well enough; but Thibaut Courtois guessed right, dived right and got it right.

Little did the fans know that this would be the pivotal point in the game, because there was only one other proper chance after ‘the one that got away’.

Sadly, Kevin de Bruyne had a game he would rather forget, as his normally unfailing radar failed to find a teammate on dozens of occasions.

The lucky break came just before half time when a long ball found Michy Batshuayi – another who put in a sloppy showing – but this time he controlled it, swivelled and drilled a left-footed shot into the back of the net.

That sealed the result but it would have done nothing for the confidence of the squad or their fans as they contemplate meeting Morocco and Croatia.