Kevin De Bruyne says Belgium still want more at World Cup
Belgium play France in World Cup semi-final on Tuesday
Saturday 7 July 2018 12:59, UK
Kevin De Bruyne says Belgium are on a once-in-a-lifetime journey that they plan on extending.
De Bruyne scored a stunning goal as Belgium beat one of the tournament favourites Brazil 2-1 to reach the semi-finals of the World Cup.
They will now face France on Tuesday to determine whether or not they will reach their first final.
This particular group of Belgian players have long been talked up and De Bruyne has his eyes set on making the most of this opportunity.
"We have achieved something that is really beautiful and not easy," he said. "We are proud to reach the semi-finals and will do our utmost to win that match.
"We are in the top four and are happy, but once you're that close you want to everything you can. Only a few times in your lifetime [can you come to a World Cup].
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"You might go to two or three in a lifetime if you're lucky. We will do all we can and hopefully we can give you some nice images of Belgium. We are going to give everything we can to beat France."
Belgium's progress represents more success for boss Roberto Martinez, who left Everton two years ago.
He and Thierry Henry are getting the best out of the Belgian squad and he admitted to finding the one thing he had been missing from club football - a human touch.
For all their critics, France have moved into the last four with a minimum of fuss, ruthlessly disposing of Uruguay 2-0 on Friday, but, De Bruyne knows how dangerous they are and is taking little for granted.
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"It's an extraordinary team [France] but when you reach the semi-finals of a World Cup you're never going to find ordinary opposition," he said.
"Thirty-two teams [started out], they all know how to play football.
"We are on an equal footing with France, we will try and do everything we can physically and mentally. That's all we can do. At the end, you do all you can to win and if they're better, they're better. That's football."
The semi-final against France kicks-off at 7pm at the Saint Petersburg Stadium.
