The Belgium national team booked a place in the quarter-final of the European Championship after comfortably thumping Hungary 4-0 in the Round of 16 at the Stadium Municipal today.
Bernd Storck, who guided his team to an incredible first-place finish in Group F, made two changes from the high-scoring draw against Portugal last week with Adam Nagy and Tamas Kadar replacing Akos Elek and Mihaly Korhut in the starting-line up. Marc Wilmots, who was grateful for finishing behind Italy in Group E because his team avoided facing Spain in the last 16, called back winger Dries Mertens to the first eleven in place of Yannick Ferreira Carrasco.
The Hungarians surprisingly dominated possession and made more passes throughout the entire 90 minutes, but it was the Belgians who were clinically efficient as they managed to create a number of chances and take their goalscoring opportunities in excellent fashion.
Tottenham Hotspur defender Toby Alderweireld opened the scoring on the 10th minute of the game after he headed the ball to the back of the net after a brilliant free-kick from Kevin De Bruyne. Michy Batshuayi was asked to make his first appearance in the European Championship on the 75th minute after Marc Wilmots introduced him in front of 35,000 spectators in place of Romelu Lukaku, and it did not take him long to impress especially after scoring three minutes later. A minute later, team captain Eden Hazard scored the third goal of the night and substitute Yannick Carrasco capped the game off with a fourth goal.
Here are three players that were most impressive during the Round of 16 tie:
Eden Hazard
The Chelsea winger had to take some time before adjusting to the pace of the game as he was clearly the most influential player on the pitch. He managed 11 dribbles and a couple of shots on goal. He also played provider for Michy Batshuayi and scored a goal of his own on the 79th minute of the match.
Kevin De Bruyne
The Manchester City playmaker was putting the Hungarian supporters on the edge of their seat in the opening 20 minutes of the game with dangerous deliveries into the penalty box. He was unfortunate not to get himself on the scoresheet after a number of attempts at Gabor Kiraly’s goal but assisted Toby Alderweireld and Eden Hazard to become the player with the highest assists (3) in the tournament.
Toby Alderweireld
The tough-tackling central defender was pivotal in closing down the space for the Hungarian attacking department and also provided an attacking part of his own after scoring the opening goal of the match after a pin-point free-kick from Kevin De Bruyne. He was extremely calm and composed throughout the match and enjoyed bursting forward every now and then.
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