Debast moves on! Sporting defender unused in Belgium thrashing in US | OneFootball

Belgium beat the United States 4-1 and secured a place in the World Cup quarter-finals, in a match marked by the tense atmosphere that preceded the opening whistle. Amid the controversy surrounding Folarin Balogun’s participation, after he was sent off in the match against Bosnia, following a request from Donald Trump. The response came in the best possible way: on the pitch. Zeno Debast did not leave the bench.

took the lead through Charles De Ketelaere, who took advantage of a poor clearance by the opposing defence to open the scoring from point-blank range.

Malik Tillman scored the hosts’ goal in the 31st minute, from a direct free-kick. However, De Ketelaere would restore the lead in the 33rd minute. Hans Vanaken, the striker’s former teammate from their Club Brugge days, made it 3-1 in the 57th minute.

As the United States tried to keep alive the dream of staying in the tournament, Folarin Balogun, the team’s top scorer at this World Cup and whose suspension was lifted by FIFA, went virtually unnoticed and delivered a performance well below expectations.

. Besides progressing to the next round, the victory will have helped ease the dissatisfaction of the Belgian Football Federation, which was considering filing a formal complaint with FIFA over the lifting of Balogun’s suspension. In the end, Zeno Debast’s national team - who remains injured - had reason to smile.

This article was translated into English by Artificial Intelligence. You can read the original version in 🇵🇹 here.