I swear, if someone calls Belgium a "dark horse" one more time, I'm going to bust a blood vein. It happens every. single. tournament.
So yes, happy fun times are to be had here between teeny tiny, expert Belgium and big bad gun-totin' America.
The Red Devils got off to a good start, scoring just 7 minutes in (Englebert) and ending the first half with another by Mpenza ('35). The American defense was generally unable to stop their passes, which left most of the heavy lifting to the US keeper, Brad Freidel. He made some spectacular saves, punching and diving and trying to give the US a fighting chance. He wouldn't have had to do so if the American defense had interrupted more Belgian set plays, but I digress...
Surprisingly, the Americans came out with the lion's share of possession at 59%. Though they struggled to break out of their end and go on the attack, at the very least that possession meant Belgium didn't have the ball. What little offense the Americans did have, at least, was fairly good. Of their few shots, most were on goal and one, a beautiful, top-corner shot from Razor ('67), cut the Belgian lead in half with plenty of time left.
The nail in the coffin came at '78, when the American defense was unable to clear a corner kick. After three spectacular saves by Freidel (all of which rebounded to Belgian players), the fourth shot from Mpenza went in, scoring his second goal and effectively putting the USA in the ground. I suppose our luck could only last so long, and now the Red Devils can "dark horse" it up in their next match against Argentina.
Final result: 3-1 Belgium
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