Rudi Garcia has claimed that Belgium have got “millions and millions” of new supporters after Donald Trump lobbied Fifa to overturn Folarin Balogun’s red card ahead of their victory against the USA in the last 16 – and that they will take “incredible strength” from that against Spain in their quarter-final. The Belgium coach also insisted that he has faith in his team, even though “everyone thinks we are going home”. Garcia, after all, has a not-so-secret weapon sitting on the bench: when striker Romelu Lukaku is introduced, he said, opponents “quake in their boots”.
- FIFA suspended Folarin Balogun's red card ban for a year, yet Belgium still defeated the USA 4-1.
- Rudi Garcia backs his squad despite doubts and warns Spain remain favourites, dominant in possession.
- Romelu Lukaku is a decisive super-sub, 93 international goals and a goal every 50 minutes, proving lethal off the bench.
Trump boasted that he had phoned Fifa to get Balogun’s punishment put on hold after the direct red card he was shown against Bosnia and Herzegovina. But despite Fifa’s unprecedented decision to suspended the striker’s ban for a year, Belgium still defeated the USA 4-1. At full-time, the Belgium football federation’s social media accounts declared “overturn this” and players celebrated by parodying Trump’s dance. Garcia also confirmed that he had spoken to Balogun, telling him he could not be blamed for Trump’s lobbying or Fifa’s willingness to cede to it.
That victory means Belgium will take the USA’s place against Spain at Los Angeles Stadium, with the immense majority of the 80,000-capacity stadium likely to be occupied by American supporters. But Garcia insisted that, far from fearing a hostile reception, which they had already overcome against the co-hosts in Seattle, his team was ready – stronger and more popular than before.
“The conditions will only be as difficult as they were in the round of 16,” Garcia said. “We had 12 million Belgium fans and now, over the last few days, I think we have millions and millions behind us; they have joined our ranks and I think that will be great. I think that will give us incredible strength. I don’t know what [the atmosphere] will be like in the stadium but we will concentrate on what we have to do. We have enough on our plate with the Spanish squad.
“We know we are playing one of the favourites and we know the strength they have as individuals and as a collective, which has been the case for 15 or 20 years now,” Garcia added. “They are the best when it comes to possession of the ball and we know that they have not conceded a goal but statistics are there to be broken and we will do what we can to score. If not, we will be sent packing. We are the second highest scoring team at the World Cup. Everyone is talking about us going home but we can do it.
“Maybe some are discovering our team now but I know them off by heart. I know their character and what they can do. The quality of the group is not shown when things are going swimmingly; it is shown when we are in hot water. Against Senegal, a team that should never have finished third in a group, but had France and Norway with them, we were able to get through. I have two XIs: one that starts the game and one that finishes it and we have lots of qualities on the bench. I have one of the best strikers of all time there.”
That striker was sitting alongside Garcia, who joked that Lukaku was just pretending to be a substitute when actually he was going to start. The two men explained the role played by the country’s all-time leading scorer after a season in which he was unable to start a single game for Napoli.
“We had lots of chats. When he comes on the opponents are quaking in their boots, they are much more worried,” Garcia said, and that has been borne out.
Although the 33-year-old has started only one game at this tournament, he has scored three times and provided an assist. He is running at a goal for every 50 minutes played, including one against the US, and his total with the national team is an astonishing 93 goals. Only Cristiano Ronaldo, Lionel Messi, Ali Daei (Iran) and Sunil Chhetri (India) have more. Lukaku hasscored at a faster rate internationally than Ronaldo and Messi.
“I had a chat with the coach in April and he said I had to be prepared for a certain role,” Lukaku said. “I said ‘OK’ and here we are. Everything is going well and we are going to continue like this. We are well prepared physically, mentally and tactically. I know that I am in this situation because this has been a very hard year. The coach visited me and we talked for two hours. I know my role for this tournament. It would be crazy, having played just 64 minutes [for Napoli] to start every game. It would be self destructive. It is all about the team. I have to play with my head as well.
“If you get this far you’re not going to just play to go home,” Lukaku added. “We need to play the perfect game tomorrow.”
