Belgium Defeats USA; Moving On To Quarterfinals

The final matchup of the Round of 16 had Belgium facing the stars and stripes of the United States of America. Belgium comes with victory over Group H. USA comes as runner up from the dreaded “Group of Death.” USA has proven every one wrong with great performances in the tournament. So far in the Round of 16, seven out of the eight group winners have made it into the quarterfinals.

The match started evenly matched as both sides came close to the box with some opportunities. Belgium had more chances in the beginning but couldn’t finish any of them. Tim Howard has been a key component to the Americans successful world cup run. The first yellow card of match went to Geoff Cameron on the 18^th minute after a hard challenge on Dries Mertens. Divock Origi started his first match of the tournament after great performances in the group stage. The first substitution came in early as DeAndre Yedlin came on for Fabian Johnson due to a slight injury on the 32^nd minute. Vincent Kompany received the second yellow of the match on the 42^nd minute after a hard challenge on Clint Dempsey. The first have ended 0-0 with both sides having received a yellow card.

Belgium continued their pressure on the American defense in the second half. It took USA 15 minutes into the second half to wake up and create a potential chance but the Belgium defense prevented them from scoring. The first substitution for the Belgium side came on the 60^th minute as Kevin Mirallas replaced Dries Mertens in the Belgium attack to provide some fresh legs. USA put in some fresh legs in their attack as Chris Wondolowski replaced Graham Zusi on the 72^nd minute. Belgium’s constant pressure led to many opportunities but Tim Howard came to the rescue. Kevin De Bruyne had an excellent performance putting in key passes which led to opportunities to score. Wondolowski had the best chance to score but he didn’t hit the bad on the sweet spot to send the Americans into the quarterfinals. The first 90 minutes ended 0-0 which led both teams to head into the 30 minutes of extra time.

Belgium began the first half of extra time with some fresh legs as Romelu Lukaku replaced Divock Origi on the 91^st minute. Finally after Belgium’s constant pressure on the USA back line, Kevin De Bruyne put the Red Devils up 1-0 on the 93^rd minute. Romelu Lukaku puts Belgium up 2-0 on the 105^th minute from an assist by Kevin De Bruyne. The final substitution for the USA came on the 106^th minute as the 19 yer old Bayern Munich Winger, Julian Green came on for Alejandro Bedoya.

Julian Green put some home for the Americans as he scores the first goal for the Americans on the 107^th minute. Howard continued to be a hero for the Americans as he has come out right on 90% of the chances Belgium has had. The final substitution of the match had Eden Hazard come off on the 111^th minute for Nacer Chadli. The final score ended with Belgium defeating USA 2-1 in extra time. Tim Howard now has the record of most saves by a goalkeeper in a world cup with his 16 saves of the match.  All of the group winners have advanced to the quarterfinals. Belgium will now face Argentina in the quarterfinals.

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