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Kevin De Bruyne of Manchester City and Belgium was “frustrated” with his international teammate Michy Batshuayi, despite the former Chelsea man scoring the game’s only goal as Roberto Martinez’s side defeated Canada 1-0 to begin their World Cup campaign. The striker began in place of an injured Romelu Lukaku, although De Bruyne was told he was missing City teammate Erling Haaland.
Former Lioness Alex Scott recalled how De Bruyne was irritated by Batshuayi’s poor mobility during the game on Wednesday evening. “You could actually see Kevin De Bruyne becoming irritated during the game,” Scott told the BBC.
“Because Kevin De Bruyne was attempting to pick out specific passes and his movement was not in rhythm with Kevin De Bruyne.” That will be one of the most difficult ones for him to complete today.”
Rio Ferdinand, a Manchester United legend, claimed that Batshuayi, who now plays for Fenerbache in Turkey, “shut everybody up” with his goal after receiving criticism during his time in England. “He’ll be overjoyed,” Ferdinand said. “And as a goalscorer, he went there and scored his goal; that’s what he’s there for.”
Just before halftime, Batshuayi latched onto a long ball from Toby Alderweireld before taking a first-time shot that flew into the back of the net, though he did squander a good chance in the second half when De Bruyne slid a ball through the striker but he waited too long and his eventual effort was blocked.
Alex Scott noticed that Kevin De Bruyne was frustrated for Belgium. (Image: BBC)
Michy Batshuayi celebrating his goal for Belgium at the World Cup. (Image: Getty)
Canada proved difficult opposition for Belgium in their opening game, and could have gone behind in the first half but Thibaut Courtois saved Alphonso Davies’ penalty.
The goalkeeper’s heroics drew praise from former Belgium captain Vincent Kompany at full-time. “You can see the players are happy with the win but that was a difficult game and you rely on some players,” the ex-Manchester City man said. “Courtois, I see in a couple of situations just remain calm, composed, catches the ball and takes his time releasing it. They still rely on these players but it wasn’t their best performance.
“He’s got a couple of elements, he’s got volleyball background which means for his size he gets really quickly on the ground, and he’s just calm. The biggest thing you can wish for from your goalkeeper is just someone that’s calm, someone who comes out and collects the ball, and just takes off the pressure. He feels the momentum of the game so well, important player for us.”
Eden Hazard earns an offside call from the referee, who ends the game early.
Janny Sikazwe’s contentious background resurfaced during Belgium’s 2022 World Cup opener against Canada on Wednesday. Despite trailing 1-0 at the half, Canada dominated the first half, but were perplexed when Sikazwe’s linesman stopped an attacƙ for offside after Belgium captain Eden Hazard passed to an opposing player.
Hazard’s desperate 14th-minute pass dropped to Tajon Buchanan, who was sprinting back from an offside position, before another Canadian star attempted to ꜱhoot. Despite receiving the ball from Hazard, the referee blew for offside to end the 𝔱hreat.
Sikazwe was the referee who oddly halted an Africa Cup of Nations match four minutes early in January, according to social media ϲonfusion. The contentious finale to Mali’s 1-0 triumph against Tunisia came after the Zambian official blew for full-time in the 96th minute.
Players and coaches instantly realized their mistake and furiously told Sikazwe, who then signaled for play to resume. Despite VAR checks, two penalties, and a red card, he whistled at 89 minutes and 42 seconds to terminate the game for the second time.
Reports leaked midway through Mali coach Mohamed Magassouba’s news conference that the match will be restarted for a second time 20 minutes after the disputed full-time whistle. Mali returned to the field after some hesitation, but Tunisia refused to play in protest.
The offside ruling was Sikazwe’s lone major gaffe in the first half of the Group F match. He correctly gave Canada a penalty early in the game after viewing the VAR monitor and seeing Yannick Carrasco block a shot with his hand.
Later in the half, many were convinced he missed a clear penalty call, also in Canada’s favor. Later replays, however, геvеаled that Axel Witness touched the ball before making contact with Tajon Buchanan. His participation in the World Cup has generated concerns, although FIFA considers him to be one of the greatest in the business.
His high-profile blunder at AFCON has followed him subsequently, possibly as far as forgetting to stop his watch during water breaks. And Hazard’s unfortunate gaffe hasn’t helped to calm supporters’ fears.