Rudi Garcia: We Showed Belgium is a Major Footballing Nation

Belgium's head coach, Rudi Garcia, was ecstatic following his team's dominant 4-1 victory over the USA in the World Cup Round of 16. He believes this win unequivocally proves Belgium's status as a major footballing nation.

"I'm thinking about the time in Belgium right now – 4 AM. To those who woke up to support us, I truly thank them. They must be happy and proud of their players today. We showed that Belgium is a great footballing country. The players were excellent, they followed the game plan, and we controlled the match throughout. We achieved this result as a collective. I would say the big issue is Amadou Onana's injury. Because of him, we were forced to win this match in the second half and reach the quarter-finals," Garcia began.

"I said it before the match. When we won 5-2 in a friendly in March, obviously today's match isn't the same, the context isn't the same, but psychologically it might have affected the opponent. This is us. We performed well, we had a starting lineup that followed the game plan I wanted to implement with this team. And once again, our super-sub stepped in – Romelu came on, scored the fourth goal, and put our minds at ease," the coach added.

When pressed for more details on Onana's condition, he responded: "I don't know, but I have a feeling it's serious."