‘Brazil did not know what to do’

Belgium star midfielder Kevin De Bruyne said that Brazil could not cope up with the changed tactics employed by the Red Devils in their quarter-final match as they outwitted the favourites Brazil by 2-1 to reach the semi-finals of the World Cup for the first time since 1986. De Bruyne mentioned that in the first half of the match the Selecao had no clue how to respond to the counter-attacks by Belgium but also admitted that Brazil had put in a better performance in the final 45 minutes of the game.

Belgium had the upper hand in the first-half of the game—a match where Brazil were widely considered as the favourites. The Red Devils went into half-time with a two goal lead after Fernandinho had put one in his own net followed by a sweetly struck shot by De Bruyne that found its way back in Brazil’s net. Both goals came as the result of swift counter-attacks – De Bruyne's finish applied after a brilliant run and pass from Romelu Lukaku.

According to a report from Goal.com, De Bruyne told reporters after the match that Brazil’s inability to adapt to Belgium’s changed tactics ultimately cost them.

“I think we switched things up tactically,” said Man of the Match De Bruyne.

“Romelu [Lukaku] and Eden [Hazard] changed position they tried to create many opportunities with Marcelo on the flank.

“I think in the first half we played very well, generated a lot of opportunities and they didn’t really know what they had to do.

“In the second half they changed tactically and Brazil were better, but even then we managed to create opportunities.”    

Belgium will now face Didier Deschamp’s France in the semi-final of the tournament and De Bruyne said that the Red Devils will be ready to face Les Bleus and will be doing everything they can to win against them.

“[France] are an extraordinary team, but I think whenever you reach the semi-finals of the World Cup you are never going to face weak opposition,” De Bruyne said.

“All the teams involved know how to play football. We're on an equal footing with France, the difference is minimal.

“We’ll do everything we can physically and that’s all you can do. You do everything you can to win and if they’re better, they’ll be better and that will be football, but we'll do everything we can to win.” De Bruyne added.

De Bruyne continued as he said he is proud of what the Red Devils achieved in this World Cup and also said that they will try to reach as far as possible in the tournament to give the fans a nice image of Belgium.

“We’ve achieved something really beautiful and it’s not easy as you have 10 to 15 teams coming here to win.

“Of course we are proud to reach the semi-finals and we are going to do our utmost to win that match against France.

“We’re in the last four and we're happy, but you want to go to the final and play in the match the whole world will be watching and you want to do all you can to get there.

“Only a few times in a lifetime you might get to go to tournaments and we’ll do all we can to be ready and hopefully we can give some nice images of Belgium, that’s why we’re here and we’re going to give everything we can to win that game against France.” De Bruyne concluded.