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"Can you believe it, Lance?! We're in the Quarter-Finals!!"
"Aren't you being childish, Marouane? Can't you aim a little higher?"
"Lance, how far do you think we can go this time?"
"At the very least, we should touch the World Cup trophy… Why are you looking at me like that?"
In the restaurant of the Belgium resort, Lance was picking up Australian black tiger prawns, prepared by a five-star hotel chef.
Each super-sized black tiger prawn, weighing over 150g, cost $25 in the hotel, but here in the restaurant, it was an all-you-can-eat buffet.
Other ingredients included slow-roasted M12 fillet steak with black truffle sauce, Chilean wild king crab with avocado, sea urchin eggs with Australian abalone, truffle salmon sashimi…
These were basically the daily meals at the resort; the Belgian National Team spared no expense for this World Cup.
Of course, there were also many sponsors, similar to LeTV.
In short, just as Lance was concentrating on picking up food and enjoying a feast, he suddenly noticed that his teammates had all gone quiet.
Looking around, they were all staring at him blankly.
"Is there something wrong with the World Cup trophy?"
"No, Lance, do you really think we can win the World Cup trophy?"
"If we can't win it, what are we doing here?"
"…"
Courtois was choked by Lance's words, but after thinking about it carefully, he realized there was nothing wrong with what he said.
If they didn't even have the ambition to win, then what was the point of coming?
"Believe in us, we are very strong."
Belgian captain Kompany stood by Lance, showing his strong support.
"The game the day before yesterday proved it; we are not afraid of any team."
"Even if we play Argentina next, we still have hope!"
Argentina was considered one of the favorites to win this World Cup, and like host Brazil and Germany, they had high odds.
As for Belgium, their odds were temporarily ranked 5th, behind the Netherlands.
If they could overcome Argentina and advance to the World Cup Semi-Finals, anyone would have a chance to win.
After all, among the World Cup Semi-Finals teams, the gap in hard power was already small, and it was more about on-field form and performance, as well as mental differences.
In other words, as long as they won the next match, Belgium would have a chance to win the World Cup!
With Lance and Kompany saying this, the Belgian players couldn't help but start dreaming.
That's right!
Who said we couldn't win the World Cup?
We are really strong!
Look at Hazard, look at De Bruyne, look at Lance!
These names were their capital for winning the championship!
Lance's hat-trick in the previous game elevated all of Belgium's evaluation of this young brother by several levels, and his status in the team was transcendent, already at a T0 level.
Thinking back to a little over a month ago, when Benteke was injured and the Belgian Football Association urgently called Lance into the team, some people, like the media, questioned this call-up.
Now… if European media still dared to question Lance, it meant they hadn't watched the game at all, which was very unprofessional.
A group of Belgian players chatted enthusiastically over their meal trays, and the coaching staff also happily arrived at the restaurant.
"Everyone looks in good spirits, talking about winning the championship!"
"That's right! Coach, do you think we can win the championship?"
"Of course!"
Wilmots first laughed twice, then his expression became serious.
"However, if you play the way you did the last two days, forget about winning the championship."
"Ah?"
Usually, it's a build-up, then praise to give players confidence, but who would discourage players like this?
"And look at what you played! Portugal's performance was also very average, but you didn't even show your true strength."
"If it weren't for Lance turning the tide, you'd probably be at Brussels Airport by now."
A group of overly excited young people now calmed down.
Assistant coach Jean-Luc quickly elbowed Wilmots, they had agreed to give the players a little warning, lest they get carried away.
Wilmots seemed to have gone too far with the warning, what if it affected the team's confidence?
Fortunately, Henry stepped in to smooth things over; as a professional player, he understood Belgium's current mindset very well.
"Don't take it to heart; it's understandable that you weren't in good form then, but in the end, you won."
"Now, you just need to perform well and prove yourselves, right?"
"That's right! Don't worry, Coach."
Captain Kompany stood in front of the players.
"We will take Argentina seriously."
There was no way not to take them seriously; on the other side were Di María, Agüero, Lavezzi, Higuaín, and in the midfield and defense, Mascherano, Gago, Ricardo Álvarez, Zabaleta, Rojo, Garay, these were all starting players from the major leagues, plus the universally recognized "world's best" superstar Messi, Argentina's lineup was not weaker than any other team.
Furthermore, the theme of the 2014 World Cup was high-pressing and defensive counterattacks, the era of tiki-taka's extensive passing control had passed, and counterattacks had returned to the mainstream of football, whoever had higher counterattack efficiency would have the last laugh.
Germany had an unstoppable wing attack and center-forward poaching ability, while Argentina was the best defensive team in the 2014 World Cup, only conceding 3 goals in the group stage and 0 goals in the knockout stage.
If Germany hadn't forcefully attacked the wing in extra time to open a gap, with Schürrle's beautiful assist to Götze, it might have been dragged into a penalty shootout by Argentina, and Argentina in a penalty shootout would not be afraid of any team.
To be fair, Belgium's next opponent was probably the strongest they had encountered so far, and also the most difficult hurdle.
Compared to Argentina's defense, Belgium's defense was very loose, making them most susceptible to being countered by Argentina.
"It's good that you know to be serious, hurry up and eat, let's try to train a bit more today."
Belgium had already achieved the initial goal set by the Belgian Football Association, reaching the Quarter-Finals.
How far they could go next depended entirely on their performance.
Wilmots, of course, hoped to go further; not only did he not relax, but he felt even more pressure than before.
The only one he wasn't worried about was Lance, the whole world had been wildly praising Lance these past two days.
Colombia's "J-Rod", James Rodríguez, who performed a 'heavenly flying immortal' goal, should have become famous with that one goal, becoming a superstar manufactured by global media.
J-Rod's popularity didn't even last a day, Lance had completely stolen the spotlight that should have belonged to him!
Now Lance was the top trending star of the 2014 World Cup!
A hat-trick to send Cristiano Ronaldo home, a last-second winner, a solo run tearing through the Portuguese defense…
Any one of these terms would be enough to make him a top trend, but Lance alone occupied several terms.
Including professional football media such as "Sky Sports", "Gazzetta dello Sport", "Marca", "The Sun", "Kicker", as well as general news media from various countries including "The Times", "The New York Times", "The Washington Post", "O Globo", "Guangming Daily", collectively and without any prior agreement, launched a 'god-making' campaign.
Lance had effectively achieved overnight fame, he had officially entered the mainstream, becoming a globally renowned football star!
"17-Year-Old Star Scores Hat-Trick! Leads Belgium to Comeback Against Portugal, Tops World Cup Scorers with 7 Goals"
"Historic World Cup Moment: Belgium's Youngster Lance Scores Injury-Time Winner, Hat-Trick Downs CR7 to Advance to Quarter-Finals"
"Tactical Analysis: Lance's 80-Meter Sprint + 93rd Minute Winner, Sets Record for Youngest Hat-Trick in World Cup Knockout Stage"
"Stunning Comeback! Belgium's Prodigy Scores Three Against Portugal, Ends Cristiano Ronaldo's World Cup Journey"
"Match Review: Lance's Ankle Trap and Nutmeg Winner Amazes All, First Asian Player to Score Hat-Trick in World Cup Knockout Stage"