Belgium moved on to the quarter-finals of Euro 2016 on Sunday night after a sparkling performance saw them beat Hungary 4-0 in Toulouse.
The Red Devils now travel north to Lille where they will take on Wales on familiar territory for star man Eden Hazard, who began his career with the city’s main football club.
Sport360 rounds-up the best of the reaction from both sides after the game in Toulouse.
“We should have been at least 3-0 up at half-time, we kept the game at 1-0 too long. We scored the second and third goals very quickly but we needed a lot of chances and in big games you don’t get as many chances, you get punished. I told my players to be patient. Often in training we do two-touch passing; in Brazil you asked me why and today you saw why, you can move the ball very quickly.
“I was almost playing four forwards with the 4-2-3-1 formation and the two defensive midfielders ensure we are not so open despite the obvious risk. But I have to say Kevin De Bruyne, every time he lost the ball he made the effort to come back and that’s what makes the side strong. When we don’t have the ball we don’t allow many chances.
“I think [the suspension] will allow Thomas [Vermaelen] to have a good break. He has been excellent in four games; I’m losing an excellent defender but could he have done it again five days later? We will deal with his absence and hopefully we will get to the semi-finals and he can come back.”
33 - @DeBruyneKev has been involved in 33 of the 100 international goals Belgium have scored under Marc Wilmots (13 goals, 20 assists). Key.
— OptaJohan (@OptaJohan) June 26, 2016
“It was a great game. We really deserved the victory. We could have scored more, but the keeper made some great stops. Not that we’ll sulk over that. We are happy and through to the quarter-finals in Lille.
“For the time being we have achieved nothing, we are simply in the quarters and we will take it one game at a time. We played against a great team and I’d like to congratulate Hungary, who gave everything. As a team I feel we were really solid. We made a lot of chances and didn’t give them too many.”
Eden Hazard 👑
— Kristof Terreur (@HLNinEngeland) June 26, 2016
1 goal
1 assist
11 dribbles
4 key passes
90% pass completion#bel #hun #euro2016 #cfc pic.twitter.com/ZR5yNPHOOK
“It’s very tough to analyse the match after my players have just lost 4-0, especially the way we lost the game tonight. Firstly though I’d like to congratulate Belgium on making the quarter-finals. I wasn’t very happy in the first half as we conceded the goal from a set piece. We weren’t as brave or compact as in previous games, I think it was a lack of confidence.
“I told the players at half-time they needed to be more ambitious and create more chances and we came close to equalising, but just when I wanted to risk things towards the end we conceded a second goal. We kept trying to attack and that’s why we were open at the back.
“Nevertheless I’d like to congratulate my team on how they played at the finals – they played good football and we no longer have to look backwards but towards the future. We now want to work for World Cup qualifying and I think we can achieve great things.”
“I think that the team all did their best, and we’re all exhausted now. I think the guys deserve everything – they gave their all. A huge number of fans were behind us, the whole country.
“The tournament has definitely been positive since we got through as group winners. We played against a perfect Belgian team who I think have every chance of winning the EURO. We’ve enjoyed every bit of it.”
