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'What old timers can do' - the evolution of Belgium's golden generation
Image source, Getty Images Image caption, Thibaut Courtois and Romelu Lukaku both played in the 2014 World Cup for Belgium and had key roles in their last-16 victory over the USA this time around By Daniel Austin BBC Sport senior journalist Published 26 minutes ago When the World Cup began 30 days ago, few believed Belgium - shorn of so many of the star names who featured in their previous campaigns on this stage - were among the potential winners. Even fewer would have believed it when they were 2-0 down with 85 minutes played against Senegal in the last 32. But now the Red Devils are in the quarter-finals, having delivered one of the all-time great World Cup comebacks to vanquish the Senegalese, before following it up with one of the most impressive performances of the tournament so far in beating the USA 4-1 on their home turf. Eden Hazard, Mousa Dembele, Marouane Fellaini, and Vincent Kompany may be long gone, but a squad which still features Thibaut Courtois, Romelu Lukaku, Kevin de Bruyne and Axel Witsel has turned a mediocre start into a potential shot at glory. As they prepare to take on Spain for a place in the semi-finals on Friday (20:00 BST), were the Belgian golden generation written off too soon, or is manager Rudi Garcia harnessing their power in a different way? How crucial have golden generation survivors been for Belgium? Belgium reached the quarter-finals in Brazil in 2014 and then the semi-finals in Russia in 2018 - when their team was arguably at its peak - but were wretched in 2022, eliminated in the group stage behind Morocco and Croatia. "I think this âis a new era for us," Real Madrid goalkeeper Courtois, playing in his fourth World Cup, said before the USA victory. "It is true âthat there â are some players from the golden era, but the World Cup in Qatar for us was â not âthat good. "Now we have another generation with younger people, new people, willing to do great things and âwriting in the history pages for Belgium." And Courtois is right - the younger players are harbouring much of the burden. Image source, Getty Images Image caption, Kevin de Bruyne scored his 38th goal for Belgium in the 5-1 group stage victory over New Zealand A-Z World Cup quiz: Name the best performing team for every letter Published 1 hour ago Of the four survivors from 2014 and 2018, 34-year-old Courtois has played every minute of this tournament, but De Bruyne, Lukaku and Witsel have featured far less regularly. Central midfielder Witsel, 37, who left relegated Girona at the end of the La Liga season, was brought on for a single minute at the end of the win over the USA. At 33, Lukaku has scored an impressive three goals but has done so by playing fewer than 50% of minutes, often coming on as a substitute and taking advantage of a tired defence reeling from the strong pressing of 25-year-old Atalanta forward Charles De Ketelaere. And De Bruyne, now 35, was injured during the Senegal game - before his departure Belgium had won one ou
