FIFA: Spain advance; Belgium say farewell - Taipei Times

• AFP, LOS ANGELES

Spain on Friday struck late to beat Belgium 2-1 and move onto a blockbuster FIFA World Cup semi-final against France, while Belgium hailed their "Golden Generation" as their final shot at winning a major title ended.

European champions Spain face France in Arlington, Texas, on Tuesday, but they were made work hard at the Los Angeles Stadium.

Belgium fought back from going a goal down to Fabian Ruiz's silky effort on the half-hour mark, with Charles de Ketelaere bringing them level on 41 minutes.

Photo: AP

It was the first goal that Spain have conceded in the entire tournament.

As a tense quarter-final seemed to be heading for extra-time, Pau Cubarsi unleashed a shot from 25m out that Senne Lammens failed to keep hold of and substitute Mikel Merino was perfectly positioned to poke in the rebound in the 88th minute.

It was a heartbreaking moment for the Manchester United 'keeper, but Merino — who had also delivered the killer blow to Portugal in the last 16 — turned to the massed ranks of Spain fans in the 70,492 crowd and celebrated.

"It seems like a coincidence, and if you go in prepared, it can happen again. I'm thrilled. I doubt it will happen again, we'll see," Merino said of his second winning goal in a row, which came just two minutes after he came onto the pitch.

Merino said Spain relished facing France in the semi-final.

"We came here for this and we're confident in our abilities. It is one of those games you dream of as a kid," he added.

Spain coach Luis de la Fuente said the semi-final would be "a final before the final" given the quality of both teams.

Lammens was only on the pitch because first-choice goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois injured himself in the second half — and Courtois went to Lammens to console him at the final whistle.

"I gave him a big hug. He's a great goalkeeper. You only get stronger from this," Courtois said.

Courtois also said that he was proud of Belgium's fabled "Golden Generation" as the sun set on the World Cup careers of veteran teammates such as Kevin de Bruyne and Romelu Lukaku.

Real Madrid goalkeeper Courtois, 34, De Bruyne, 35, and Lukaku, 33, were part of the lavishly talented crop of Belgium players that rose to the pinnacle of FIFA's rankings for multiple years over the past decade.

However, a gifted player pool that also included Eden Hazard, Vincent Kompany and Marouane Fellaini came up short in major tournaments, with their best performance a third-place finish at the 2018 World Cup.

"To be a golden generation you have to win some gold and then you can be called that," one commentator has said of the Red Devils.

However, talking to reporters after the loss, Courtois was adamant that Belgium's old guard could look back at their tournament record with pride, pointing out that in several cases, notably the 2018 World Cup and 2021 UEFA European Championship, they had been eliminated by the eventual winners.

"In the big tournaments, almost always we have done well," he said. "We're very proud of everything we did till now. Obviously we get a lot of criticism like: 'The golden generation never won anything,' and so on, but we are Belgium. We're not England. We're not Spain. We're not France. We are a small country of not even 12 million people that in big tournaments is showing amazing things."

"In 2018 [at the World Cup] I think we were playing the best football in that tournament," he added. "So there are things to be proud of."