The England vs Belgium match, highlighted as the battle of Premier League players, turned into a boring farce that saw both sets off fans booing the teams during the half.After both teams comfortably qualified for the knockout stages, their respective managers – Gareth Southgate and Roberto Martinez sent on a largely second-string side to avoid injuries.
The matter was complicated by the fact that the fruits of labour on offer for failing was arguably better than winning. Of course, English fans would point out that beating Japan is a relatively easier prospect than beating Colombia, even the latter half of the draw is kinder on whoever comes second.
A win would mean a faceoff against Japan followed by a showdown against Brazil/Mexico and Uruguay/Argentina/Portugal/France. On the other hand, the runners-up’s potential path to the final would have a match with Colombia followed by a quarterfinal showdown against Sweden/Switzerland and a semi-final against Spain/Russia/Croatia/Denmark.
This led to one of the most bizarre matches at the World Cup where the two teams participated in what felt like the most expensive, high-profile training session with neither team willing to exert themselves to win it. While it might be a tad overboard to say that the teams wanted to lose on purpose, it was clear to all watchers that the desire to win wasn’t at the level we expect from highly-paid footballers.
It was reminiscent of what Indian political watchers call a ‘friendly fight’ where parties put up a weaker candidate to help their ally win. Golden boot contenders Harry Kane and Romelu Lukaku didn’t even descend to the gladiatorial stage, and the biggest talking point of the match was Michy Batshuayi who managed a near impossible act – kicking the ball into the post to have it rebound and hit him on the head.
While Manchester United fans might have pined for what could’ve been, when old boy Januzaj put the ball in the net, most neutral watchers were left thoroughly unimpressed with the state of affairs. For the fans who had shelled out their hard-earned money to travel to Kaliningrad, and millions watching across the world, the lifeless action was a bitter pill to digest.