Michael Marino looks to have picked up where he left off in Portugal’s quarter-final against Belgium in the last 16. He came on as a last-minute substitute to take Spain to the quarter-finals in the previous match. This time, they repeated the same drama, beating Belgium 2-1 to take La Rosa’s forces into the World Cup semi-finals after 16 years.
Fabian Ruiz and Michael Marino scored for Spain in a thrilling quarter-final in Los Angeles on Friday night. Charles de Ketella scored the only goal for Belgium. Luis de la Fuente’s team will play France in the semi-finals on July 14.
From the beginning, Spain controlled the game and dominated the attack. Lemin Yamal, Dani Olmo, Ferran Torres attacked one after the other, but Thibaut Courtois stood like a wall under the goal post of Belgium.
Spain finally scored in the 30th minute. Pedro Porro played a great one-two with Yamal and passed the ball to Dani Olmo. Olmo’s low shot was first blocked by Courtois. However, Fabian Ruiz did not waste the opportunity to return.
Five minutes later, Courtois blocked Yamal’s free-kick with great skill.
Despite successive Spanish attacks, Belgium was waiting for an opportunity. In the 41st minute, Charles de Keteler capitalized on that opportunity.
Una beat Simon to head in front of goal from Kevin De Bruyne’s perfect cross. The first half was a 1-1 draw.
Spain could not reduce their offensive pressure in the second half. Courtois disappointed Yamal with a long-range shot in the 58th minute. The Belgium goalkeeper made a great save, setting up another scoring opportunity with a solo effort in the 61st minute.
De Bruyne’s shot was blocked spectacularly by Spain goalkeeper Unai Simon. The performance of the two goalkeepers added to the excitement of the game.
The most emotional moment of the game came in the 71st minute. Thibaut Courtois was forced to leave the pitch due to a hamstring injury. He left the field crying. He was replaced by Chene Lemmens. Courtois left, but Spain failed to break the Belgian defense for a while.
Michael Marino scored for Danny Olmore in the 84th minute. He changed the fate of the match in just 115 seconds of entering the field. In the 88th minute, Lemans first blocked Pau Kuberci’s long-range shot but failed to clear the ball completely. Marino took advantage of the opportunity to shoot the ball over the goalkeeper’s head into the net. The goal gave Spain a 2-1 lead.
Marino also came on as a substitute to score the last-16 winner against Portugal. This year he also achieved the same feat in the quarter finals.
The Spanish midfielder made history by becoming the first footballer to score the winner after 80 minutes in two consecutive knockout matches at the World Cup. It was also the fastest goal by a Spanish substitute at the World Cup, coming within 115 seconds of entering the field. Until now, the record was held by Enrique Saura (159 seconds) against Yugoslavia in 1982.