A golden generation has lost its gilding. The most talented group of Belgian footballers in living memory have spurned their last chance at glory, instead exiting at the group stages of what is surely their last World Cup together. At the final whistle, their best player Kevin De Bruyne was staring into the middle distance, their one-time world-beating talent Eden Hazard was contemplating his role as an ineffective late substitute and their supreme goalscorer Romelu Lukaku was lamenting a series of barely believable missed chances.
For Roberto Martinez, the manager who has come closest to fulfilling this squad’s almost limitless potential, it is surely his final act in charge. It would be tempting to say that the recriminations will come over the next few days for him and his players if not for the fact that they had started already. Talk of a divided squad past its sell-by date has undercut this last dance since the start of their tournament and will now only grow louder.
