WORLD CUP: BRAZIL PROGRESS TO LAST EIGHT; BELIGIUM FACE JAPAN TONIGHT

02nd July 2018
By Aiden Graw
www.mknewslink.com

SPORTS BYTE:
Brazil progress to a seventh quarter-final in a row, where they will face either Belgium or Japan
Second-half goals from Neymar Jr Santos [51min’] and Roberto Firmino Bombasa [88min’] saw Brazil beat Mexico 2-0 to advance to the World Cup quarter-finals in Samara on Tuesday.
Neymar; The world’s most expensive player opened the scoring six minutes into the second half after excellent approach play by Willian, the Paris Saint-Germain forward’s second of the tournament and sixth overall in World Cup history.
Substitute Firmino then wrapped up the win with a simple last-minute finish as Tite’s side advanced to their seventh straight World Cup quarter-final, where they will face either Japan or Belgium in Kazan on Friday night.
BELIGIUM FACE JAPAN TONIGHT AT 9:00pm

BELGIUM V JAPAN PREVIEW:

BATTLE FOR WORLD CUP QUARTER-FINALS IN ROSTOV
Belgium just have one injury concern as Japan look to reach last eight for first time
Belgium will have a refreshed side to choose from as they face Japan in the World Cup round of 16 in Rostov on Monday night.
Roberto Martinez left most of his first-choice players on the bench on Thursday against England, but still came away with a 1-0 victory to uphold their 100 per cent record in Group G.
Belgium are looking to reach the quarter-finals for only the second time since 1986, while Japan have never reached the last eight of the tournament, appearing at this stage two times previously.
Belgium impressed in the group stage, scoring nine goals,
Thomas Meunier, Jan Vertonghen, Kevin De Bruyne, Youri Tielemans and Leander Dendoncker are on yellow cards for Belgium and would miss the last eight with another booking, while Japan’s Kawashima, Hasebe, Tomoaki Makino and Takashi Inui are in the same position.
Martinez has a near-full squad to choose from for the clash, with Adnan Januzaj the only potential absentee due to a bruised knee.
Martinez said: “Januzaj picked up a little knock in training, nothing serious. But he’s got a bit of a bruised knee and we’ll have to assess him.”
Belgium have reached the knockout stages of the World Cup for the sixth time in their last seven participations, the only exception coming in 1998. They will be looking to reach the quarter-finals for the third time in their history after 1986 and 2014.
Belgium have never kept a clean sheet in their 11 knockout games at the World Cup, losing eight of them (W2 D1). Also, five of their last nine knockout games have gone to extra-time, but only one has seen a penalty shoot-out (v Spain in 1986).
Belgium scored more goals than any other team in this year’s World Cup group stages (9). They were also one of three teams to win all three of their games (with Croatia and Uruguay).
Belgium are unbeaten in their last 22 games (W17 D5), their last defeat dating back to September 2016 against Spain (0-2). As of the end of the group stages, only Spain were on a longer run amongst the 32 teams at the 2018 World Cup (23 games).
Japan have failed to score in five of their last six World Cup games against European opponents (W1 D2 L3), with their only goals coming in a 3-1 victory over Denmark in 2010.
Since making their World Cup debut in 1998, Japan have alternated between getting knocked out in the group stages (1998, 2006, 2014) and reaching the round of 16 (2002, 2010, 2018). They have so far never made it past the last 16.

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