Roberto Martínez described himself as “the proudest man in the world” after his Belgium side demonstrated tactical nous and then tremendous desire to beat Brazil and reach the semi-final of the World Cup for the first time in 32 years.
“I gave the players a very difficult tactical plan,” the former Wigan and Everton manager said. “When you play you have to get a tactical advantage. It would be very easy to think you turn up and win a football game but you cannot do that against Brazil. We had to be brave tactically and to do that in a World Cup, the players have to believe. It’s about execution of the tactics.”
Martínez abandoned the 3-4-2-1 he had used previously, deploying instead a 4-3-3 with Kevin De Bruyne as a false nine. Dropping deep, De Bruyne was at the heart of a series of Belgian counterattacks, scored the second goal and was named man of the match, an indication of the success of Martínez’s plan. “Brazil adapted better in the second half,” he added. “Then it’s not a game of tactics, it’s a game of heart and belief, talking, all the aspects you have to showto be a great team. It was a performance of both things, tactics and heart.
“Many aspects made me proud. Firstly, there was the performance and the confidence. In the tunnel the players had that look in their eyes that they could win. The second was their reaction after conceding.
Renato Augusto pulled it back to 2-1 with 14 minutes plus injury time still to play. “They showed experience and togetherness and calmness,” Martínez added. “I hope everybody in Belgium realises this generation is extremely special.”
Tite, the Brazil coach, refused to comment on his future, although his tone seemed valedictory. As ever, he was immensely impressive, generous and even-handed, calming a Brazilian media determined to blame God, luck or the referee for the defeat. “I don’t like to talk about luck,” he said. “It’s an educated manner of putting down people’s skills. They were skilful. They finished well. There was no luck. There was [Thibaut] Courtois. Was he lucky? No, he did well.”