No fear: Belgium refuses to take the "easy way"

MOSCOW (Reuters) – After a surreal night on the Baltic where England has struggled to contain its satisfaction against a defeat that offers it an easier path to the finals, Belgium hopes the World Cup will favor the brave.

The last time this "golden generation "Red Devils thought that they had a draw that they blew," said coach Roberto Martinez. So now, they are ready to face anyone, after Japan next Monday.

Their 1-0 win and first place in Kaliningrad Group G thanks to a curling shot by Adnan Januzaj propelled them into half of the knockout table from Brazil, France and the United States. Argentina.

While Germany, defending champion, is eliminated, half of England counts only Spain among the previous winners.

But Martinez, who before the match had declared that the victory was not a priority and made nine changes to his line-up, refused to consider the result in this way and stressed the vagaries of football.

"I do not think you can plan the ideal scenario," said the Spanish, pointing out the difficulties of Germany and other large teams up to now. "I do not think that in the World Cup you can succeed in trying to have an easy way.

" We saw it in the Euro two years ago. "

At Euro 2016, finishing second in Italy in his group, Belgium would avoid meeting Germany, France or Spain champion before the final.

After crushing Hungary 4-0 in the last 16 minutes, the Belgians felt that they had a hand on the trophy, but Wales had no idea and sent 3-1 in the quarterfinals

"In a game that was difficult to watch at times, England seemed cynical and Belgium finally decided not to dirty their image, "concludes the Brussels newspaper Le Soir after Thursday's game where England coach Gareth Southgate did little to try to save a draw in the last half hour.

The Flemish daily De Standaard wrote: "The Red Devils showed that they were athletic and ambitious and that they were not afraid of anyone – not even a quarter-final against Brazil . "

Martinez praised the pleasure of his entire team He worked in the field and worked to build a team spirit where the egos clashes tormented the Belgians under his predecessor Marc Wilmots during the last World Cup and at Euro 2016.

"On the pitch, we were just thinking of having fun," said Yuri Tielemans, 21-year-old offensive midfielder, who forced the goalkeeper Englishman Jordan Pickford to make a great stop thanks to a long-range effort in the first half.

"All these calculations were not something for us but for the press.The two halves of the draw are difficult.We have shown that we are very competitive in the team.We are all good. "