Journalism of Courage
Belgium reached the World Cup semifinals for the first time in 32 years by holding off five-time champion Brazil 2-1 Friday, sending Neymar home without living up to the expectations of being soccer's most expensive player. Belgium scored the decisive goal on a counterattack just after a corner had been taken by Neymar. Romelu Lukaku surged forward with the ball and Kevin De Bruyne put it in the net to give Belgium a 2-0 lead in the 31st minute. Brazil threw everything at them in the second half and got one goal out of it but no more. Earlier in the day, France beat Uruguay 2-0 and booked their semi-final spot. (Source: AP)
In their match against Uruguay, France took the lead in the first half through Raphael Varane. (Source: Reuters)
Uruguay keeper Fernando Muslera could not keep out a rather straightforward shot from Antoine Griezmann and France doubled their lead. (Source: AP)
Brazil kicked off the second match of the day and dominated the opening exchanges. (Source: Reuters)
But Belgium took the lead thanks to an own goal from Fernandinho. (Source: Reuters)
Kevin De Bruyne then scored the second goal for Belgium in the first half thanks to a counter attack powered by Romelu Lukaku. (Source: AP)
Renato Augusto scored one for Brazil towards the end of the match and Belgium were hounded. But they held on and qualified for the semi-final. (Source: AP)
