The goal against Japan made Nacer Chadli a legend in Belgian football. He doesn’t have to walk the street for long to remember it.
Until the end, Birth Chadli will be questioned about this decisive goal scored on the counter-attack against Japan to give the Red Devils a historic quarter-final against Brazil at the 2018 World Cup.
On the RTBF set, this was obviously discussed, after having mentioned his current situation at SL 16 training: “Every time someone meets me in the street, they say thank you. If it bothers me to be reduced to this goal? A bit, I didn’t have just one goal in my career” he laughs.
The 35-year-old from Liége remembers this rise to the game that has gone down in history: “At the moment when I scored, there was too much emotion, it was an explosion of joy, I couldn’t believe it. At the moment when the Japanese take the corner, they only keep three defenders behind. Thibaut Courtois catches the ball, I tell myself that it’s the last action of the match and I try to give everything to avoid going into overtime.”
Like on parade
For the golden generation, it was the consecration after several years spent together: “When Romelu Lukaku begins his diagonal run, I tell myself that he surely saw me. There is a click, we played a lot together, there are automatisms and that’s it.”
This nail-biting victory against Japan will undoubtedly remain one of the defining moments of this generation. If Nacer Chadli will no doubt no longer experience such thrills as a player, it is these kinds of emotions that still give him the sacred fire to continue playing.
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