Beforehand, Roberto Martinez – as always – had praised the opponent almost to heaven, but the Belgians did everything they could to make the Canadians look like Divine Canaries.
“This was such a difficult match,” the national coach puffs. “Canada was better than us. They knew very well what they wanted to do.”
“We expected them to have a party, that they would throw a lot of emotions into their first World Cup. They played very directly, with a lot of speed. We didn’t have the clarity to play football under that.”
“Then you have to look for other weapons. That penalty save was a psychological boost. Courtois kept us in the match. Thanks to our faith, our experience and our connection, we were able to win.”
“This victory is actually more important than a victory with good play. The tournament is only 5 days away, some top countries have already lost. By winning, you can grow.”
“It is clear that it is not good, but if you can still win, you can build on that. First we have to get out of the group stage, from then on we have to be ready as a team and we prefer to win with a good game.”
Source: Sporza
