Belgium’s qualified success

Belgium 1 Russia 0

You might have heard of the place — they call it the Maracana. Sixty-four years ago, 200,000 people crowded into the then brand new, state-of-the-art stadium to bear witness — for most of them, painfully — to something truly historic: ‘The Fateful Final’ of the 1950 World Cup, in which Uruguay defied the odds and the gods to rip open an enduring wound in the soul of Brazilian football.

Nothing quite so seismic has happened yet at the new version of the old venue at World Cup 2014, but Chile’s stunning elimination of Spain and Lionel Messi’s wonder goal against Bosnia are two very good reasons why I will always be pleased to say ‘I was there’.