Belgium star Kevin De Bruyne was happy after knocking Brazil out of the 2018 FIFA World Cup in Russia because according to him, playing Brazil is never easy.
The attacking midfielder, who scored a wonderful goal in the quarter-final against Brazil to give the Belgians a 2-0 lead in Kazan, said that the Selecao’s are a tough team to play and beating the South Americans proved what Belgium are capable of.
🗣| @DeBruyneKev after winning the @Budweiser #ManoftheMatch #WorldCup #BRABEL pic.twitter.com/wEFJLTxfKA
— FIFA World Cup (@FIFAWorldCup) July 6, 2018
“It is not easy to play against Brazil, they are such a wonderful team. But I think the power we have as a team we showed today. Especially the first half, we were magnificent. We took the advantage. They changed tactically and it was difficult, but even then we created some chances. And after their goal it was a character test, and we showed the world what we are capable of,” said De Bruyne.
However, the Manchester City attacker is aware of France’s fire-power and said that they will do everything possible to win the semi-final in Saint Petersburg.
“Now we face an extraordinary team in France but any time you reach the semi-finals of a World Cup, you know you’re not going to face weak opposition. We’re on an equal footing with them and we’ll be doing everything we can to win.”
Belgium struck early and held off a late Brazil fightback to send the five-times champions tumbling out of the World Cup with a 2-1 victory in an end-to-end thriller.
A Fernandinho own goal and a brilliant Kevin De Bruyne strike gave Belgium a spot in the last four for the second time in their history — where they will face France on Tuesday. They reached the last four for the first time since 1986 and sent Brazil home at the quarter-final stage for the third time in the last four World Cups.
Speaking about the win, Belgium coach Roberto Martinez said that it was an incredible effort and
“There were incredible hearts out there. Sometimes you have to accept that Brazil have so much finesse and quality that they’re going to break you down. But we didn’t accept it. Not for one minute did they give up. This was something special. These boys deserve to be very special people back in Belgium,” said Martinez.
“I hope everybody back in Belgium is very proud. The execution of the tactics was magnificent. In two days they changed their tactical disposition, I couldn’t be prouder. We cannot let people down. We need to enjoy beating Brazil in the knockout phase, treasure it, and pass it down the generations,” he added.