No one becomes a captain by chance and Youri Tielemans proved just that with a superb performance against Senegal at Seattle Stadium. When his team needed him most, he provided the spark Belgium needed to complete an incredible comeback.
First came the equaliser, a body-on-the-line header, where he strained every sinew as if his country’s fate depended entirely on him making contact.
In extra time, Tielemans had the chance to net again and provided further proof of his mettle, sending an unstoppable penalty beyond Mory Diaw to turn the game around for Rudi Garcia’s side.
“I’m proud of what we achieved and I’m happy to have helped the team out," he said post-match. "All we wanted was to win, to play well and to represent our country as best we could. Now we need to go away and analyse why things didn’t go well for much of the match, starting with the two goals we conceded."
Tielemans went on to describe his two goals in Seattle, which secured Belgium’s place in the Round of 16. “For the first, I just tried to get my head to the ball by making a run into the penalty area. It all came together perfectly. I gave everything I had to score that goal.
"Obviously, we’ve been practising penalties, which is so important in a tournament. In the moment, you just have to trust your ability and stay calm. I’m so happy I was able to do that and to score that goal.”
Expectations were also high, and perhaps highest of all, for Kevin De Bruyne after his goal in the previous match against New Zealand. However, the Belgian playmaker was taken off, alongside Jeremy Doku, in the 56th minute. After the match, and delighted to have reached the last 16, De Bruyne spoke about his relationship with Tielemans and just how important he is to the Belgian dressing room.
“Youri has been a great servant to Belgium. He is now leading the team as captain and is someone everyone can look to, both on and off the pitch," the Napoli man stated. "I think he’s a fantastic guy and, thankfully, his two goals made the difference in getting us through today."
“He leads by example and there’s a reason he has the captain’s armband," defender Arthur Theate contnued. "He’s one of the best people to have around the dressing room, and he has so much international experience in tournaments and big matches. It was not an easy start for any of us, but he still came up with two decisive goals. He works incredibly hard and makes us all raise our game. I hope he has many more moments like this, because he deserves them."
During the second half, with Senegal 2-0 up, Tielemans had an exchange with Leandro Trossard on the pitch. But the Arsenal man, who embraced him after Belgium’s equaliser, reflected on the incident by stressing just how determined the team are to make their mark at this World Cup.
"It was a miracle. We believed right until the very end and that’s how we managed to bring it home," he said. "I don’t think anyone inside the stadium thought we could pull it off after 80 minutes had gone. The first goal was vital. It gave us the momentum we needed to turn the game around. At that point, we came together as a team. It was inevitable.”
The lesson, then, is to never give up and Romelu Lukaku, another key figure in the dressing room, echoed his team-mate’s thoughts. “You can never stop believing. That’s something I’ve learned during my career," the nation's record goalscorer stated. "That’s how it is. Our team spirit helped us turn the game around.”
Their coach echoed those thoughts. “We showed that anything is possible. We had the patience to turn the game around," Garcia said. "The quality we have in this group made the difference. Everyone who came off the bench played their part and I’m really happy."
Belgium's reward for their comeback is another Seattle date, this time with co-hosts USA, on 6 July.
Sources: FIFA Official
