INGLEWOOD, Calif. — Only minutes into the second half of Friday's World Cup quarterfinal against heavily favored Spain, Belgium goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois boomed a goal kick downfield and felt a twinge in his thigh.
He initially felt good enough to keep playing, but the pain resurfaced each time he tried to kick the ball long.
Rather than ask Courtois to fight through the pain, Belgium coach Rudi Garcia opted to remove the Real Madrid goalkeeper in the 71st minute of a 1-1 match. Courtois exited the field wiping the tears from his eyes as backup Senne Lammens entered.
"I wanted to continue, but the coach wanted someone 100%," Courtois said. "I wanted to try to play maybe 5-10 more minutes because, in goal, I was feeling good, I was making saves and I was not disturbed to make those saves. I was only disturbed to kick long."
A dramatic moment became a decisive one less than 20 minutes later when Lammens made a critical mistake at the worst possible time. The 24-year-old Manchester United goalkeeper spilled a routine shot from Spain center back Pau Cubarsí into the penalty area. Spain's Mikel Merino was the quickest to react, slamming home the rebound to propel his team to a 2-1 victory and a berth in the World Cup semifinals against France.