Can Belgium beat Argentina?

Agree their defence is better, but the way Belgium play should suit the Argies better IMO, every team they have faced so far have massively parked the bus. If the Belgians have a bit of a go, which you would think they would, the Argie attack will hurt them IMO.

been disappointed with Belgies tonight. So slow to punish the USA on the counterattack. I don't know how Fellaini gets a game in midfield.

No. They can DRAW 0-0 with Argentina...Can't wait for this **** to end!!

Awful game tonight, especially for punters, bookmakers benefit thanks to poor finishing from Belgium, they should be ashamed to call themselves footballers, so one sided it was untrue and its taken them to extra time to score the first goal. Belgium have absolutely no chance of beating argentina on this performance.

it's all about containing Messi
i don't think they can

They can but they wont.

the argies will run amok in all that space.

argentina have been crap so far, belgium 24 into 15 today already a free bet now. slowly building towards a great tournament for them. will be hoping agentina get knocked out, they have looked beatable in all their games. the manager will need to get tactics right and pick the players to beat them.

argentina are very overrated...they are clearly not the amazing attacking force everyone thinks.... Aguero is a huge loss

it was so evident today that if you can stop messi they have no other alternative gameplan

the fact that they could barely beat Iran and the Swiss is quite telling

defensively the argies are really mediocre ... belgium have a great chance to knock them out

What's worse... Being barely able to beat the Swiss... Or the Yanks? The latter IMO.

not for me C C M

last night tim howard made more saves in a single game (15) then any other player in world cup history since 1966 - 2014

Belgium have the best back 5 in the competition by some margin imo.  They also had 27! shots on target.  It was a minor miracle that USA kept a clean sheet for 90 minutes, although Belgium do lack a top striker.  Of course they might beat Argentina.  Take out Messi and they are the better team.  Their options on the bench are much superior, Argentina don't seem to have any.  Like Germany they've played both USA and a very underrated Algerian team.  They had 54 shots on goal 37 were on target.  The opposition had 17 shots on goal 10 on target.  Germany had 42 shots on goal 31 on target and the opposition had 14 on goal 8 on target.  So against comparable opposition, on that comparison, they scrub up well against the Germans.

At the outset, like many, I thought they were too short in the outright because of the number of well known top Premiership players, but after the Russian game they became my outright, because I thought they were being unfairly picked on and I liked their potential route to the final.  The other half looks much stronger to me.  They've won from behind against the Algerians, they've won when not at their best against the Russians, and they've won with ten men.  Not like the Germans, Brazilians or Argentinians have set the world on fire.

If Lukaku starts up front against the Argies I might change my opinion.  30 minutes against a knackered USA isn't a good basis for re introducing him to the starting line up.

Belgium certainly look the value, but I'm on the 0-0 at 8/1

Apart from the last period of E/T when I'm not really sure what happened to the Belgian defence, their defence has looked decent, they have quality going forward although there needs to be more contributions from midfield as you can't rely on the lad up front..but yes they can beat the argies because the the argies aren't very good...people say without messi they are average.....they're average with ffs, without him they would be dire.

I thought the argies would look a different unit against a side that opened up against them, well they had that with nigeria and they were still shocking, whether a side parks the bus or not it makes no difference if you don't move the ball quickly, and the argies are the worst side out of the big guns for pace in their play.

i agree
the market is priced wrong
belgium look the value here

Majority of their corners were total rubbish,and far too many misplaced passes.No older wise head bossing the midfield,and pulling the strings.Plenty of enthusiasm,but far too many basic errors.They nnearly let it slip by giving the ball away,instead of playing keepball.Considering they had a far better side ,on paper,than USA,they made hard work of it.
   Having said that I did have a small saver on them before the match,but don't think they are good enough.

Belgians should set up defensively, invite Argentina onto them break with the likes of De Bruyne, Hazard, Merthens and Origi, Can see the Belgians going through
The Argentine formation needs a rejig it's not working and it,s too slow through the middle with Gago and Mascherano, maybe Alvarez coming in as gago is **** and line them up 4-4-1-1 without the ball

I cant understand why Belgium are getting a lot of the plaudits for last night. If USA had a decent striker, i think they would have won.

If there is an early goal, it could be a really high scoring game imo.

Merthens has given the ball away so much in the last 2 matches,and his final pass has been rubbish.Needs to be rested.

The biggest price Belgium ever were to qualify in running was right at the start of the match.  That tells you all you need to know about yesterday's match.  On another day, given the play, it could easily have been a comfortable 3-0 win.  You couldn't say that about Argentina v Switzerland.  The Argies drifted to qualify throughout the game, reflecting a much more even encounter, where they ground out a win they just about deserved.  Admittedly Switzerland are a better outfit than the USA, but not by much.

The Argies have Messi, they have the experience at the highest level of Higuain, Di Maria and Mascherano.  You would think they are capable of more.

On current form they can, if they can create as many chances as they did against Switzerland but finish better Argentina could be in trouble, the Argies have looked dire at times and without Messi would be out by now but even Messi has only shown flashes of his brilliance will that be enough against the better teams ?.
Belgium have a host of players that look dangerous and could score goals, De Bruyne, Lukaku, Origi, Hazard, Vertonghen, Kompany, Mertens and even Fellaini pops up now and again but Argentina are struggling for goals and the only time they looked good was against Nigeria, on the plus side Aguero did not play the last 16 tie and he's a top class player that can turn games so Argentina could improve they need to.

Howard made a record number of saves i wonder how close Belgium were to having created the most chances in a post group ( when the poorest teams were out !! ) game. Argentina a one man team with an underated defense, they have looked pretty solid in the central areas but Belgium have far more firepower than any team Argentina have met so far. If Belgium get an early goal i think they could give Argentina a real hiding.

Howard made many of those saves due to the fact the shooters weren't placing their efforts.Belgium were playing USA,and should have beaten them easily.In the end they just hung on.
As things stand there doesn't appear to be much between any of the teams.
It was said that many of the top players would be burnt out when it came to the World Cup,and that appears to be the case.
  Yes,we all know that they get massive salaries,some way too much,but tiredness comes in however much ,or little,you earn.I think that has had a lot to do with why so many of our top players haven't exactly sparkled in this tournament.
  5 out of 8 going to extra time tells the story,nothing between the teams.

I'll be surprised if many goals are scored in the q/f - I doubt we will see many risks taken - certainly in the first  half so 0-0 @ 45 mins seems a great bet - now await a goal fest!!

CLYDEBANK29     02 Jul 14 09:41 
If Lukaku starts up front against the Argies I might change my opinion.  30 minutes against a knackered USA isn't a good basis for re introducing him to the starting line up.

You make some good points in your post, Clydebank. From the quoted part, I take it you aren't impressed by Lukaku. No argument here, he's been garbage. However, I think being dropped may have given him the kick up the arse he looked like he needed. He looked disinterested, as much as anything, in the group games, but his whole attitude seemed much better the other night.

I think Lukaku is suited to the English Game.  He's physically very strong and the 100mph end to end nature of the league plays to his strengths.  He's not technically gifted and it looks like his movement isn't suited to tight cagey international games, which I imagine this will be.  Two things stick in my mind about him.  Firstly Benteke was Belgium's first choice attacker until he got injured and secondly his performance in the Super Cup against Bayern, which I'm sure was what prompted Mourinho to loan him out to Everton.  The USA game played to his strengths, it was end to end like the Premier League, and when he came on they were knackered.  Even Julian Green, who was a very controversial pick by Klinsman, and by the accounts I had  read in the US press, looked out of depth on his international debut, caused Belgium considerable problems coming on as a late sub.

He has had a minor injury and maybe that's been a factor, but if you compare Belgium's performances, with and without Lukaku against Russia and Algeria, or compare them to with Origi starting against the US, they are massive.

I heard one commentator, in the let's have a dig at Belgium period of the tournament, saying that several of Belgium's players wouldn't get into the England squad.  That has a ring of truth, but England don't have anyone of the quality of Hazard, Kompany or Courtois.

great post clyde

Nice post CB. I'm inclined to agree with most of it. Although I can't have Belgium as potential winners, I wouldn't be surprised to see them beat the Argies. The Argies have been a huge disappointment and will be knocked out by the first decent side they encounter. Maybe that's Belgium. At the prices, I'll be laying the Argies, for sure.

The problem with that is there are no decent sides, all the so called decent sides are struggling to varying degrees because they are too slow in their play or there is just very little creative play capable of breaking down defences...the exception is the dutch who have a style of play that is effective and the more attacking side they play in opposition the more effective that style of play becomes.

In answer to the original question, of course they can!
The only thing that surprises me about surprises,is that people get surprised by them!

Lukaku turned 21 on May 13 just gone, he's justa kid

just saying

Lukaku should be used as a sub, an impact player.

I can´t remember ever seeing a worse Argentina team, they were just woeful against Switzerland, so of course Belgium can beat them. If they can neutralise Messi like the Swiss did then they have every chance but they will have to take more of their chances.

Fancy the draw after 90 mins though.

after the group games on another thread i tipped low scoring draws,and the same applies for the remaining games.
back unders and low draws.

no g/scorer 11/1 sid james value