Belgium may have snuck past Canada in their opening World Cup group game but Kevin De Bruyne was not in a cheerful mood post-match.
Manchester City’s creator-in-chief is one of the best in the world but he and his teammates struggled against the North Americans for much for the Group F match.
Had it not been for an Alphonso Davies penalty being saved by Thibaut Courtois and some chaotic final third moments, the World Cup novices might have sprung a shock.
Instead, Belgium, under the guidance of Roberto Martinez stumbled to a 1-0 victory at the Ahmed bin Ali Stadium in Qatar thanks to a Michy Batshuayi goal.
At the end of the game it was De Bruyne who was handed the Man of the Match award, but the player wasn’t impressed by the decision.
“I don’t think I played a great game,” said the Man City star. “I don’t know why I got the trophy, maybe it’s because of the name.
“I just don’t think we played well enough as a team, especially in the first half. I don’t think we found solution and we started really bad.
“The momentum was with Canada and we didn’t find the way to break through their press.
“There was more space than we thought in the game and I think in the second half when we started to get through their pressing from the midfield there was actually more space but I don’t think we played a good game today – me included.
“We found a way to win and that was it.”
“They showed tonight that they do belong here,” he said.
“It has been a long time since we have been back, our fans were football fans, they really tried to own the stadium tonight.
“They (the fans) walked away proud I’m sure, proud and feeling like we are a footballing nation. We came into the game with a couple of goals, the first was to play fearless and the second goal was to entertain.
“We had some other goals – to create some firsts, but we never got to those moments. I think at times it was one pass too many around the box. I’m not going to criticise them because when you outshoot Belgium I can’t complain too much.
“Sometimes it is your night and sometimes it is not. They made a commitment to themselves before they went out there tonight.”
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