2014 FIFA World Cup: Belgium vs USA - As it happened...

Zee Media Bureau/Dattaraj Thaly

Belgium beat USA 2-1 in the an extra-time thriller in the last knockout game of the 2014 FIFA World Cup. Goals from De Bruyne and Lukaku in extra time gave Belgium the led. Green pulled one back for USA, which made for a frantic finish in the end. Belgium managed to hold on despite wave after wave of USA attack. MATCH REPORT» OUR FULL COVERAGE ON WORLD CUP 2014» Group Standings» Fixtures & Results» FULL TIME (EXTRA TIME): Belgium 2-1 USA 120+1' -Last attack of the match. Howard launches the ball forward. Fellaini with a big header to clear it. That's it. Belgium win 2-1 and go though. 120'- 1 MINUTE ADDED ON Klinsmann is furious. He is raging on the sidelines and clearly feels there should have been more than 1 minute of time added on. 118'- Lukaku has the ball on the left and 2 players for company on the counter. He squares it up for Mirallas who is distracted by the defender mistimed interception. 116'- Yedlin has space down the right and fires in his low cross. There are plenty of white shirts in the box but none of them can get a touch on the end of it. 114' - Wave after wave of US pressure. The Belgian goal is under a siege. They are scrambling inside the penalty box for clear the ball away. What a game this is. 112'- USA with a cleverly worked free-kick. They take it short and thread the ball through for Dempsey whose shot is parried away by Courtois. 108'- USA now throwing the kitchen sink at the Belgian goal. What a finish we are headed to. Incredible. 107'- GOAL! Julian Green Bradley floated in a floating ball, Green ran toward it and met at first time on the volley. Courtois got his hands on the ball but could not prevent it from going inside the net. 106'- Here we go.. FIRST HALF (EXTRA TIME): Belgium 2-0 USA 105'- 2 MINUTES ADDED ON! 103'- GOAL! LUKAKU De Bruyne motored forward with the ball on the break. Lukaku made a run in between the defense and the ball was played into him. Lukaku fired the shot from a right angle, blasting it past Howard. Besler was very close to Lukaku but just could not match up to the strength of the forward. 102'- USA are looking tired now. The arrival of Lukaku has created plenty of problems for them. They just can't seem to deal with him. 100'- Lukaku receives the ball inside the penalty box and has two defenders around him. The physicality of the Belgian helps him create space and fire a shot with his left foot from a right angle. Howard is in position to make the save. 96'- Begium attack him numbers again. Vertonghen is in space on the left and has Hazard and Lukaku in the middle. Appears as though he froze for a moment as he neither picked a pass or shot. The attack petered away. 95'- Lukaku replaced Origi during the break. What an inspired substitution by Wilmots. 93'- GOAL! DE BRUYNE Lukaku muscles past his man. He charges ahead from the middle of the park to inside the box and squares it up for De Bruyne. The defenders outstretched leg lands the ball at his feet. De Bruyne turns around two defenders and fires his shot low into the far bottom corner. 91'- Here we go. The first half of extra time is underway. FULL TIME: Belgium 0-0 USA 90'+3'- BIGGEST MISS - Wondolowski! Jones won a header in the box and set up Wondolowski who was open with Dempsey right next to him. Wondolowski missed from point blank range as he shot above the crossbar. To be fair, Courtois came out quick and made sure his options were limited. But you have to score from there. USA had the win right there. 90'- Kompany turns defense into attack. He brings the ball forward, picks out a teammate and continues to run ahead in the penalty box. Vertonghen delivers a low cross which is just behind Komany who drags it without any real power. Howard scampers and pushes it out for a corner. 87'- HAZARDDDD.....SIDE NETTING! Belgium on the break had De Bruyne and Hazard sprinting ahead. De Bruyne puts it ahead for Hazard on the left who has a look at the goal and fires in a left footer that crashes into the side netting. 84'- The corner comes in and Fellaini get his head to it. Referee calls for a fouls as Fellaini had pushed his marker in an attempt to win the ball. 83'- Fellaini lays the ball up for Hazard who picks it up and sprints ahead. He gives it to Origi and continues to make his forward run. Origi turn and takes the shot. Howard uses his hand to block the shot and concede a corner. 80'- Fellaini tracks back to defend. His clearance falls kindly for Hazard who is motoring away. Yedlin comes flying in to get in his sliding challenge putting the ball out for a throw-in 78' - The ball by Mirallas was aimed at Fellaini in the middle who poor touch set Hazard up. The shot from the Chelsea man was not clean but it still forced Howard to pull off yet another save. 75'- HOWARD WITH ANOTHER BIG SAVE Hazard fed the ball to Origi who took a touch, turned and put Mirallas through who was one on one with Howard. Mirallas fired a shot with his left foot but Howard made himself big and his outstretched leg deflected the ball out for a corner. 72'- Chris Wondolowski comes on in place of Graham Zusi for USA. 71'- Origi was has been chosen over Lukaku has been impressive. Mirallas had the ball at his feet in the penalty box, but he was harried by two defenders. The ball ricochets off them and fall to Origi whose shot is saved by Howard with his legs. Origi did not catch it cleanly but the save from close range was great. 70'- Yedlin was the ball on the right, deep inside the US half. He has the close attention of De Bruyne. Yedlin decides to pass it to Dempsey who takes a quick shot with his left foot. Courtois collects on the first bounce. 68'- Witsel, who generally likes to break plays, win the ball and keep the engine of the team going, tries his luck from outside the box. His low drive is wide of the upright, but only just. 65'- At the 65 minute mark, it is safe to say Howard has been the best player for USA and Vertonghen for Belgium. Hazard has shown glimpses of his brilliance. 62'- Vertonghen looks the most likely to break the deadlock here. He has another crack at goal but Howard is there again to save it. The Tottenham defender looks supremely confident and has not been shy to take numerous shots on goal. 60'- Mertens is taken off by Belgium. His replacement is Eveton's Kevin Mirallas. 58'- Hazard lays the ball off to Origi who drives to the touchline breezing past two defenders. His cross to the near post is tried to flick in to goal by Mertens. He just missed the target. 56'- Vertonghen with two back to back chances. First he got the ball inside the penalty box, skipped passed a player and fired in a left footed low drive. Howard got down low and saved the ball with his outstretched legs. Then a long diagonal ball from the right was put in for Vertonghen who volleyed it first time from just inside the box. He got hold of the shot with perfect technique but could not keep it down. The ball went over the crossbar and into the crowd. 55'- ORIGI HITS THE WOODWORK! The cross came in from the right and was met with a wonderful header by Origi. Howard was beaten as the ball bounced off the top right corner of the crossbar. 53'- BIG CHANCE FOR BELGIUM! Hazard set up Vertonghen who bombed forward and put the most tantalizing cross across the face of the ball. Nobody got a touch on the ball. Origi had to just tap that in but the three players failing to make contact with the ball before him, put him off. 50'- Fellaini shakes off Jones, pinches the ball of him and attempts a shot on goal from way out. The ball sails into the crowd. 49'- Both teams have not made any changes during the break. 47' - HOWARD SAVES FROM MERTENS! De Bruyne put in a cross with the outside of his right foot. He had just one man to aim and found him. Mertens' looping header caught Howard a bit off-guard but he adjusted well to jump, hang in the air for a bit and tip the ball over. 46'- Second half is underway.... HALF TIME: Belgium 0-0 USA 45' - 3 MINUTES ADDED ON! 45'- Courtois' clearance sets up a counter attack for Belgium. Origi burts forward on the right with the ball. He cuts it sharply for De Bruyne who takes the first time shot. Straight to Howard. 44'- Zusi's corner is not cleared by Belgium, it falls to Yedlin who heads it forward from the outside the box. Courtois comes out and punches the ball away. 43'- The resulting corner by De Bruyne is punched clear by Howard. 43' - Veronghen's cross is headed for a corner by Gonzalez who has been immense so far. 41' - Kompany takes out Dempsey with a late challenge from the back. He gets his man but not the ball. Yellow card. 40'- Yedlin bombs forward again and cuts the ball back for Jones who wildly swings at the ball but misses. 38'- With his speed and ability to skip past players, Hazard has been getting far too much time and space on the left. 35' -Hazard receives the ball on the left. He drives ahead, cuts in and fires his shot. Blocked by the defenders. 33'- The resulting corner is chested by Dempsey, who steadies himself and set up Jones for the shot. Jones' effort is a low drive that goes wide off the post. 32'- Good start for the young Yedlin. He bombs forward with confidence and wins a corner off Hazard. 31'- Yes, Johnson comes off. Yedlin replaces him. 30'- Johnson has gone down holding his hamstring. He shakes his head. This does not look good. Doubt if we could continue. 28'- Hazard has the ball at his feet and goes for goal himself from outside the box. Easy save for Howard who goes low and makes the simple collection. 27'- Mertens corner is headed out by Gonzalez. Belgium come at them again. 26'- Vertonghen keeps getting in dangerous positions. He yet again found himself in space on the left flank and tried to send in a ball that was deflected for a corner. 25'- Hazard threaded a lovely ball through for Vertonghen who was behind the US defense and inside the box on the left. His cross was blocked by the defender before Fellaini could tap it in. 22' -BIG MISS BY BELGIUM! They suddenly found themselves in a 4 and 3 situation. De Bruyne received the ball on the left, he had time and space. He sent keeper the wrong way but dragged his shot wide of the goal. 20'- Hazard is a real live-wire. He tries to run at the heart of the USA defense and skips past one. The second defender comes out quickly and dispossesses him. 19'- Zusi's corner is headed by Cameron. The header lacks power and direction. It floats away from the far post. 18'- Hazard moves forward with pace and has the ball at his feet. He cuts in from the right and switches the play to the left to Merterns. The winger receives the ball and fires in a early cross from the right. Johnson boots it away. 17'- Cameron gets the first yellow card of the match for a clumsy tackle. 15'- We have a temporary break in play as a spectator has invaded the pitch. The security staff chase and get hold of him. Klinsmann does not like the delay and shakes his head. 14'- The game has lost a bit of momentum after the initial impetus. Belgium started really well and have now reduced the tempo of their play. 12' -Gonzalez gets forward and gives it to Jones, who tries to put in a cross. The ball hits straight into the first Belgian player and goes out for a throw-in. 10' - The winner of this match will take on Argentina in the quarter-finals. 8' - Dempsey keeps the ball in play near the corner flag and passes the ball to Jones, who tries to set up the ball for Zusi to shoot. Vertonghen is alert and makes the interception. 6'- Beasley bombs forward down the left. He has Fellaini. for company, who slides and prevents the cross. 5'- After initial domination by the Belgians, USA finally get the ball and play it around. 3'- Origi skips past Besler and fires his shot from inside the box. Howard had to get his angles right. He did and pulled off a wonderful save. 1'- Here we go... Team line-ups for the match: USA: Howard, Gonzalez, Bradley, Besler, Beasley, Dempsey, Bedoya, Jones, Zusi, Cameron, Johnson Belgium: Courtois, Alderweireld, Van Buyten, Kompany, Vertonghen, Witsel, Fellaini, De Bruyne, Mertens, Origi, Hazard Welcome to our live coverage of the last game in the Round of 16 between Belgium and USA at the Arena Fonte Nova in Salvador. Belgium are undefeated in the tournament so fat. They beat Algeria 2-1, Korea 2-0 and Russia 1-0. They have not played expansive football, but dug out hard fought victories. Despite having a huge talent pool, the Belgians have not been able to play free-flowing football. USA have played exciting football so far in the tournament. They beat Ghana 2-1, drew 2-2 with Portugal and lost 2-0 to Germany. Their biggest achievement has been getting though the Group of Death and progress to the knockouts. USA will welcome back their main striker Jozy Altidore today. This is a major boost for Klinsmann side who has said they will go all out attacking in this match. Belgium have supremely gifted attackers themselves. The likes of Hazard, Lukaku and Merterns can all change the game at any time. Belgium will start as favorites for the match but going by form, it is an even contest. Belgium have a tough game on their hands and the golden generation will have to play out of their skins to get past a resurgent USA side.