No goals, no problem: Why Belgium can make a deep run by winning 'ugly'

Winning isn't important, it's the only thing that counts - Giampiero Boniperti

By the time the final whistle was blown this past Sunday in Rio de Janeiro, Belgium had secured a 1-0 victory over Russia with a late goal, and the players, coaches and country had plenty of reason to celebrate. 

Two matches played, two wins and a place in the last sixteen of the World Cup for the first time since 2002 - their last appearance at the tournament. Mission accomplished, for now. For the Red Devils, it was all smiles and selfies (with the King of Belgium, no less).

For the pundits, though, it was time to start sharpening their knives.

This was supposed to be the exciting team of the tournament. The term 'dark horses' was trotted out, used and re-used without hesitation. It's the most popular phrase heading into a major tournament, reserved only for the most popular sleeper pick. That was Belgium.

The Golden Generation, rife with young, talented attackers like Eden Hazard, Romelu Lukaku, Kevin De Bruyne and many others, were supposed to blitz their way through a weak group, scoring goals for fun along the way. 

The same way they did in qualifying. Except, that's not how they got to Brazil.

Marc Wilmots' team did not book their ticket to the tournament by playing an open, free-flowing game that relied simply on outscoring their opponents. The Red Devils won just one of their 10 qualifying matches by more than a two-goal margin.

After struggling to craft chances against two of the more disciplined teams in the tournament, Algeria and Russia, much of the enthusiasm over the Belgians' prospects of making a deep run in Brazil have cooled significantly.

The bandwagon is carrying far less weight than it was just a few weeks ago.

Don't bother telling that to Wilmots, because he doesn't care. Nor should he.

"The most important in football are the results and to go through," he recently told reporters, via FourFourTwo.

"Everything depends on the opponent in order to make a great game or not. If we have some spaces we are dangerous as you could see ... The thing that I see is that we leave a very few chances to the opponent and that we score each time one or two goals per game and that we take the points."

Indeed, the Red Devils have been right in their element in the opening two matches of the group stage, grinding out results. 

Have we learned nothing from the 2010 edition of the tournament?

Spain also struggled to find the back of the net four years ago, and that seemed to work out just fine for them, thank you very much. The Spaniards scored just eight goals in seven matches, winning all four knockout-round games 1-0 en route to a World Cup title.

They conceded two goals in the entire tournament. One in an opening match loss to Switzerland.

Spain had David Villa four years ago in South Africa. Belgium has Eden Hazard right now in Brazil. The electrifying winger's opening two matches were a microcosm of his team's play. Largely ineffective and anonymous early, Hazard sprung to life in the second half of both games, providing the assist for both Dries Mertens against Algeria and Divock Origi versus Russia. 

Aside from an error by Jan Vertonghen that allowed the Fennec Foxes to take an early lead from the penalty spot, Belgium have looked comfortable at the back - just like they did in the buildup to the competition.

Goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois had to pick the ball out of his net only four times in qualifying, as a defense marshalled by captain Vincent Kompany proved one of the most stingy in the world.

Belgium haven't looked great so far. That's an entirely fair assessment. 

The same can be said of pre-tournament favorites Brazil and Argentina, each struggling in matches they were expected to win handily. Germany dropped points in the group stage, while defending champions Spain are, famously, already back home.

Just win, baby. That's what it's all about. Even if it isn't pretty.