The Barcelona forward spun away from two defenders and clipped a pass to Angel Di Maria. Kevin de Bruyne stung Sergio Romero's palms from distance and Kevin Mirallas headed a Jan Vertonghen cross narrowly wide, but there was little pace or purpose. Well, that was early! Most recently he was one-on-one with Vincent Kompany, but chose to shoot and Kompany blocked it. Moments later, Ezequiel Garay almost deflected De Bruyne's cross into his own net. Captain Vincent Kompany gave possession away carelessly inside his own half after eight minutes, the ball running to Messi. They’ve got to be careful about giving up a second goal, but they do look lively on offense. Sharper to the ball, more urgent in possession, Argentina started the quicker of the sides. At times, he was balletic, at others he was bold. He is the player who most thoroughly debunks any argument that Argentina is a one-man team. A deflected pass bounces up nicely for Gonzalo Higuaín, who hits a low, dipping right-footed volley past a stricken Courtois in Belgium’s net. Rodrigo Palacio (Argentina) right footed shot from outside the box is too high. Share on Facebook; With Messi in the spotlight, Eden Hazard struggled to escape the shadow. Belgium leaves the World Cup with the consolation that its team has a bright future, its young stars just hitting their prime for the 2018 World Cup in Russia.
In the wake of that, he appeared to have a problem with his thigh, and it looks as if he won’t able to continue. With time running out, Vertonghen found Fellaini, who headed over.
Higuain raced away, nutmegged Kompany and skimmed a curling shot onto the crossbar. Hazard was replaced by Tottenham's Nacer Chadli as Marc Wilmots played his last card. Axel Witsel (Belgium) right footed shot from outside the box is high and wide to the right.Attempt saved. There was more Messi magic to come. Kevin De Bruyne (Belgium) right footed shot from outside the box is blocked. Paul Doyle @Paul_Doyle Sat 5 Jul 2014 13.54 EDT. The two teams had met in 68 previous matches, including three times in the FIFA World Cup knockout stage, all won by Brazil (1962, semi-finals: 4–2; 1998, round of 16: 4–1; 2010, round of 16: 3–0). Dries Mertens tries a through ball, but Romelu Lukaku is caught offside.Attempt blocked. Lionel Messi (Argentina) left footed shot from outside the box is saved in the centre of the goal. First published on Sat 5 Jul 2014 10.30 EDT. By ZACH JOHNKJULY 4, 2014 Argentina beat Belgium, 1-0, on Saturday, holding on after Gonzalo Higuaín's half-volley gave them an early lead. Belgium poured forward in search of a goal that might take them to extra time, but failed to produce a moment that called Romero into serious action.