KALININGRAD, Russia: It had been viewed as the game no-one wanted to win but Adnan Januzaj’s fine finish early in the second half gave Belgium a 1-0 victory over England to secure the Group G top spot in a contest between two sets of reserves.
The result means Belgium, who won all three of their group games to finish on nine points, will face Japan in the last 16 while England, who came second with six, take on Colombia.
That gives Gareth Southgate’s England a tougher test in the second round but should they get past the South Americans they will find themselves on a much more promising path to the final.
Belgium’s side of the draw includes Brazil, who they could face in the quarter-finals, Argentina, Portugal and France.
England’s opponents are, on paper at least, easier — Sweden or Switzerland await in the last eight — and they face less travelling should they progress.
“The knockout game is the biggest game for a decade, so we had to make sure our key players were preserved,” said Southgate, having left out captain Harry Kane among others.
“We created openings to get something from the game, but we have to keep improving. I think the supporters know what the most important thing is,” he added.
BIGGER PICTURE
If it was a gamble not to go for the win wholeheartedly then it is one Southgate appears at ease with and he certainly had no regrets about his team selection.
“Sometimes I think you have to look bigger picture and make decisions that might be criticised.
“When you are leader and a manager you need to make decisions that are right for your group and sometimes those decisions will be criticised and I understand that,” he said.
It was only Belgium’s second ever win over England and their first since 1936 and coach Roberto Martinez suggested he was not worried about the impact of the result on his team’s possible future opponents.
“The victory is a consequence of a very good performance. You cannot plan the ideal scenario, you’ve seen big nations already eliminated,” said the Spaniard.
“We need to look at ourselves, we are a stronger group than we were before the game. We’re facing Japan, we’ve got to be ready for it,” he said. — Reuters
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