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The last time this "golden generation" of Red
Devils thought they had a soft draw they blew it, coach Roberto
Martinez said. So now, they are ready to face anyone, after
Japan next Monday.
Their 1-0 win and Group G top spot secured in Kaliningrad by a
curling Adnan Januzaj strike has pitched them into the half of
the knockout draw featuring Brazil, France and Argentina.
With defending champions Germany out, England's half features
only Spain among past winners.
But Martinez, who before the game had said winning was not a
priority and made nine changes to his line-up, refused to look
at the outcome that way and emphasized the vagaries of football.
"I don't think you can plan the ideal scenario," the Spaniard
said, noting the travails of Germany and other top teams so far.
"I don't think that in the World Cup you can be successful by
trying to hope to get an easy path.
"We saw that in the Euros two years ago."
At Euro 2016, finishing second to Italy in their group meant
Belgium would avoid meeting Germany, France or defending
champions Spain before the final.
After crushing Hungary 4-0 in the last 16, Belgians felt they
had one hand on the trophy but unfancied Wales had other ideas
and sent them packing 3-1 in the quarter-final.
"In a non-game that was hard to watch at times, England came out
looking cynical and Belgium in the end decided not to sully
their image," concluded Brussels newspaper Le Soir after
Thursday's match in which England coach Gareth Southgate did
little to try to rescue a draw in the final half hour.
Flemish daily De Standaard wrote: "The Red Devils showed they
were sportsmanlike and ambitious and that they are afraid of no
one -- not even a quarter-final against Brazil."
Martinez has hailed the pleasure his whole squad have been
taking on the pitch and has worked to build a team spirit where
clashes of egos bedeviled the Belgians under his predecessor
Marc Wilmots at the last World Cup and at Euro 2016.
"On the pitch, we were just thinking of having fun," said
21-year-old attacking midfielder Youri Tielemans, who forced
England goalkeeper Jordan Pickford into an excellent save with a
long-range effort in the first half.
"All those calculations weren't something for us but for the
press. Both halves of the draw are difficult. We showed that we
are very competitive across the squad. We're all good."
(Editing by Peter Rutherford)
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