Thibaut Courtois was left in tears after he was forced off with a leg injury, before his replacement cost Belgium dearly in their World Cup quarter-final with Spain.
Real Madrid goalkeeper Courtois went down hurt in the 70th minute feeling his leg and it soon became apparent that he would not be able to continue, in a huge blow for the Red Devils.
Courtois left the pitch visibly emotional as his number went up, replaced by Manchester United’s Senne Lammens for his World Cup debut.
At 34, it may prove to be Courtois’ final act at a World Cup having played at the previous four editions.
And the change led to a cruel twist of fate, with 24-year-old Lammens making the late error that sent Belgium home.
Pau Cubarsi’s shot from range was spilt by the United stopper, allowing Mikel Merino to pounce and fire in an 88th-minute winner for Spain – the Arsenal midfielder’s second late decider in as many knockout games.
“Lammens has been thrown on late in the game and it is the first thing he has really had to do,” Danny Murphy said on BBC’s commentary. “He stops it but doesn’t really get it out of danger and Merino is first on the scene.”
Lammens was consoled by his team-mates while Courtois watched on, struggling to hide his dismay at his understudy’s shortcomings.
Courtois’ setback came after Belgium were forced into a last-minute team change due to injury, with captain Youri Tielemans picking up a suspected hamstring injury in the warm-up.
Tielemans was set to start alongside Nicolas Raskin in the middle of the park but was replaced by Club Brugge midfielder Hans Vanaken just 12 minutes before kick-off.
Then with five minutes to play, it appeared Rudi Garcia was forced into another change when Kevin De Bruyne was replaced by Alexis Saelemaekers, having gone down with cramp moments earlier.
Belgium had impressed for much of the contest in Los Angeles, with Charles De Ketalaere heading home a deserved equaliser to cancel out Fabian Ruiz’s opener 11 minutes earlier.
But it was Lammens’ mistake that proved the difference, with Spain sealing their place in a mammoth semi-final showdown against France.
