Although Real Madrid superstar Vinicius Junior is out of the World Cup, there are still a lot of key players left standing for the Royal Whites in this year's tournament. Kylian Mbappe and Jude Bellingham are among the MVPs and still around, and in the quarterfinals, Belgian goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois and new Spanish left back Marc Cucurella will square off.
Courtois has not been tested as much as usual this World Cup, and whils his Belgium were nearly knocked out of the Round of 32 by an upstart Senegal that had outplayed them, the Merengues pulled off a crazy Remontada of their own from down 2-0 late before decimating another arrogant United States side 4-1 in the Round of 16.
Belgium are unmistakable underdogs, though, against reigning European Champions Spain, who defeated Real Madrid star Jude Bellingham in 2024 and are just coming off a huge win over Madridistas Bernardo Silva and, of course, the legend himself Cristiano Ronaldo.
Lamine Yamal is not sleeping on Courtois
Lamine Yamal has not been as sterling as Jude Bellingham, Kylian Mbappe, Erling Haaland, or Lionel Messi in this World Cup, but he has still made a difference this summer. And he is not underestimating his opponent either, showing great reverence to another Madrid star, just as he did to Cristiano in the last round.
The Spanish right winger admitted that Real Madrid's Thibaut Courtois is one of the best goalkeepers in the world and that Spain will not be taking their devilish opponents lightly. Yamal told Mundo Deportivo in an interview, as relayed by Fabrizio Romano, “Thibaut Courtois is one of the best GKs in the world. He will make my life difficult but… as always, I want to win!”
Real Madrid fans rarely have kind words to say about Barcelona stars, but that is usually because they are unreasonable when talking about Madrid. Lamine Yamal drew the ire of Madridistas with his comments on Marc Cucurella, but, lately, he has been turning babyface with the utmost respect for Cristiano Ronaldo in his Last Dance and now the words for Tibo.
Of course, it is entirely obvious that Courtois is not just one of the best goalkeepers in the world but THE best. He has been a hero for Real Madrid in so many massive games in the Champions League, and, quietly, Madridistas will be rooting for him to do some damage to a Spanish national team that has not respected the Madrid stars in recent years.
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