The Sao Paolo Arena will host one of the final matches of the group stages later on as South Korea face off against a powerful looking Belgium. Hong Myung-Bo was unhappy with his defence’s performance against Algeria following a 4-2 defeat and may bring in some fresh legs and shuffle the deck a little. Arsenal’s Park Chu-Young may be dropped for tonight along with left-back Yun Suk-Young who has been unconvincing in recent games. In the Belgian dressing room, Divock Origi might be called on to deputise for Romelu Lukaku, who has been out of form in the last couple of games. Belgium can relax in this game however, being already through to the last sixteen, which will likely mean that Marc Wilmots will rest anyone on a yellow card.

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Belgium have been accused of being underachievers at this tournament, not in terms of results, but in terms of playing ability, team compatibility, playing style and finishing. Mystifyingly enough though, the fact that they have qualified with a game to spare has not been enough to satisfy their disenchanted supporters who were expecting greater things from a Marc Wilmots side that has no less than eight English Premier League stars in its lineup. Even foreign media have jumped on the bandwagon, calling  the side a “dark pony” rather than a dark horse. Wilmots has jumped to his side’s defence though, saying “Pretty, pretty, pretty makes no-one happy. We are tactically very disciplined and we have needed to be patient. It’s not about being beautiful – but about being effective.”

The media frenzy over Belgium and their crop of stars in the build up to the tournament is perhaps at fault for their fans’ disenchantment, with some of their disappointment building up into boos and whistles at the Maracana last Sunday. Disappointing behaviour, but frustration also showed in Romelu Lukaku’s behaviour in Belgium’s last match, who showed an angry reaction to being substituted after not finding the back of the net. Nineteen year-old Divock Origi managed to net the winner and save Belgian blushes while at the same time becoming the youngest World Cup goal scorer since 2006.

Wilmots has developed a bit of a headache in that Belgium’s three goals of the tournament have all come from substitutes. He could be forgiven for having ambivalent feelings of satisfaction and dissatisfaction at such events and will beg the question of whether the goalscoring subs should be handed starts this evening against a physical and hard working South Korea. Given the fact that Algeria knocked four past them however, WIlmots may opt to test out Lukaku a little further, to see if a goal can be shaken out of a frustrated striker.

On the South Korean team sheet, Coach Hong Myung-Bo has kept it young. This choice has inevitably brought with it a lack of experience and a few costly mistakes, however they can still qualify. They must beat Belgium this evening and hope that Russia can turn over Algeria.