World-2018: Belgium exults, salutes "an exploit"

World-2018: Belgium exults, salutes" an exploit "
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BELGA / AFP
/ NICOLAS MAETERLINCK

Screams of joy, glbades of beer raised, honking: Belgium celebrated Friday the qualification of the Red Devils in semifinals of the World Cup-2018 by eliminating Brazil (2-1), hailed as " an exploit "by all the media of the Kingdom and the Prime Minister.

" Exploit splendid! En route for the 1/2 finale! @emmanuelmacron: Forward the Devils ", tweeted the Prime Minister Charles Michel in the evening, Addressing French President Emmanuel Macron

Belgium joined France in the semifinal by beating Brazil 2-1, a result that Charles Michel had predicted in a previous tweet.

At 9:53 pm of Brussels, the final whistle blew the dozens of people in front of the screens of "Petit Paris", a café in the European quarter of the capital.

Happiness coupled with relief, both Brazilians have played with the nerves of the s upporters in the last quarter of an hour by narrowing the gap

Some, like the secretary of state for asylum and migration Theo Francken, from the Flemish nationalist party N-VA and familiar with the controversy, have had the cruel irony: he tweeted a photo montage of Manneken Pis, emblematic statue of Brussels, urinating on Neymar on the ground and wincing with pain (fake?).

The victory allows the Devils to qualify for the semi-finals of a World Cup for the first time since 1986, when they will meet their neighbor, France, on Tuesday in St. Petersburg.

"Beat the great teams, we no longer believed! ", rejoices Veronique Dewilde, the face of black, yellow and red, in the colors of Belgium.

" Now we will run up against France, our dear neighbors , we're going to see, "smiles this 57-year-old craftswoman, proud of having herself played football in her youth.

" A match to never forget "

On the websites of the major Belgian media, the word "exploit" was declining everywhere after the match

"A match never to forget!" wrote the Flemish newspaper Het Nieuwsblad, while Friday morning's press called the meeting "a rendez-vous with history" for the Belgians. "Tonight or never," headlined the daily Le Soir.

During the 2014 World Cup and Euro-2016, when they were already outsiders, the Red Devils did not succeed. to go beyond the quarterfinals, eliminated respectively by Argentina and Wales.

This last defeat (1-3), in July 2016, sealed the fate of the coach Marc Wilmots, replaced by the Spanish Roberto Martinez, now at the head of the Belgian "golden generation".

Standing third in the Fifa standings, this team led by Vincent Kompany, Kevin De Bruyne, Eden Hazard, Romelu Lukaku and Thibaut Courtois was all the more awaited at the Russian World Cup.

"Today we really played the football we promised for years, "said Joris, a Flemish supporter of 30, amid the effusions of joy of the European district.

According to him, it is the defense of the Belgians who "made the difference" on Friday night against Neymar's Seleçao.

"These boys deserve to be heroes in Belgium," said Martinez after the match. "It's special and we can not let down the Belgians."

07/07/2018 00:51:21 –
Brussels (AFP) –
© 2018 AFP