Belgium is ranked No. 3; Panama is ranked No. 55. Yet for the first 45 minutes the two were equals in Group G action at the World Cup on Monday. Then came the Dries Mertens goal vs Panama that completely changed the narrative of the match.
Panama held Belgium at bay for the first half of the match. Near the end of the first half, the favored Red Devils looked to be running out of ideas as the Concacaf side swatted away every attack. Goalkeeper Jaime Penedo looked like a Gianluigi Buffon doppelganger out there.
Panama’s goalkeeper Penedo is either Buffon’s younger brother or Buffon in disguise... pic.twitter.com/1mkgLD5M75
— Robbie (@robbieg_15) June 18, 2018
But early in the second half everything changed with the Mertens goal vs Panama. And what a goal it was.
#MundialTelemundo En voz de @CopanAlvarez ¡Así fue el gol de #BEL! @dries_mertens14 nos regala este hermoso gol que abre el marcador, imposible de despejar para el portero de #PAN @JaimePenedo26 pic.twitter.com/3iz7jkf3FL
— Telemundo Deportes (@TelemundoSports) June 18, 2018
As great as Penedo had been playing, there was little he could do about that one. It was just what Belgium needed after Panama had frustrated magnificently up until that point.
2 - Dries Mertens is the first Belgian player to score in two different World Cup tournaments since Marc Wilmots (1998 and 2002). Stellar. #BEL #BELPAN #WorldCup pic.twitter.com/kuwiCXynWN
— OptaJoe (@OptaJoe) June 18, 2018
The Mertens goal vs Panama appeared to loosen the Belgian players up as Romelu Lukaku added a second in the 69th minute.
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