Belgium emerges winner after 120 minutes

Belgium and USA lived to fight another day with their scintillating performance in the final Pre-Quarter final match of the IFFA World Cup 2014. Belgium did it in the end as they came out on top with 2-1 victory against the Americans in an encounter which could have a scoreline of a tennis match.

From the very beginning it was an exhibition of missed opportunities from both set of players and it was really surprising how it stayed 0-0 at the end of the first half. The exhibition of squandering away of scoring chances continued as it stayed 0-0 even after 90 minutes. In the second half the keeper from both sides had to make important saves though to keep their team in the hunt.

As the match went into the extra time we finally had a goal. After innumerable missed chances it was Belgium who broke the deadlock in the 2^nd minute of the extra time. Kevin De Bruyne was the scorer. Belgium made it 2-0 few minutes later, in the 104^th minute to be precise, and this time it was the substitute Romelu Lukaku. His coming on as a sub finally paid off as he made a great impression not only in the scoreline of the match but also in the playing style of the Belgians. USA could not just give it up. 2 minutes after Belgium had scored their second goal and almost secured their place in the final eight, USA reduced the margin as substitute Julian Green scored after showing his great technique in front of the goal. It was 2-1 and the match was not over yet. USA went ahead in numbers but they could not force the match into the penalty shoot-out.

Belgium was finally into the last 8, and that too for the first time in their history of world cup football after the new system had been introduced. They will be up against Argentina in their quarter final match and the kind of form they are in they will surely fancy their chances against the argentines. The only thing they need to look upon is their ability to score. They squandered too many chances against USA. Against Argentina they might not get so many looks at the goal and for that the forwards really need to step up in order to make sure that they make the most out of this tournament.

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About Argha Ghosh

An ardent follower of sports and die-hard Manchester United fan, Argha's ultimate dream is to watch a Manchester derby from the Stretford End at the Old Trafford.