Five times World Cup winners Brazil go out of the World Cup to buoyant Belgium.

Five times World Cup winners Brazil go out of the World Cup to buoyant Belgium.

Brazil have come a long way in this World Cup in Russia but not quite as far as they would have liked. But Brazil are out of the World Cup and for some of us that in itself is nothing short of disastrous. Brazil will always have a place in our hearts because they were the ones who gave the World Cup a very special polish and lustre, a stamp of quality, the most beautiful turn of phrase, breathtaking originality and a star studded shine, a team with a  classical sense of innovation and the sweetest fluency.

 They were the best of international teams, a team that never stopped giving and will always do so regardless of decade, generation or time frame. Sadly though, this was not the Brazil of old, the Brazil with a very distinctive history and heritage, a team who have left their enduring legacy down the ages and the most convincing of statements wherever they go.

 Brazil have now left the World Cup in Russia because their opponents Belgium were almost kindred spirits, heir apparents to the Brazilian footballing crown of yesteryear and a side whose vastly progressive and attractive football may be the successors to the Brazil we used to know. So we dabbed a tear from our eyes and quietly congratulated Belgium on their commendable intentions and suspecting that Belgium may become proud inheritors of  today's World Cup and whose now deposed world champions Germany can only wonder if things might have been different.

Last night Belgium quite literally played Brazil at their own game and looked as though they'd stolen the fading documents of a Brazilian portfolio. For lengthy periods of the first half Belgium played with all the artistry and sensitivity of a team for whom the passing game has now become second nature. At times their football reminded you of a precious stone, a team playing with all that freedom and that rich sense of indulgence which occasionally left you speechless with wonder.

From the kick off Roberto Martinez, who started his English playing career with Wigan and then moved into management with both Wigan and then Everton, watched with unashamed pride as his Belgium team broke free of the shackles and restraints of years gone past. For years Belgium have been the strangers at the party, observant onlookers but never really participating with style or class.

Now though Thomas Meunier, Toby Alderweireld and the massively stylish Vincent Kompany and the hugely trustworthy Jan Vertonghen of Spurs nailed up their defence, carefully marshalling and patrolling their back four with the beady eyed scrutiny and vigilance of security officers guarding an important building. They mopped up all the damage and carnage that the Brazilians threatened to create in their second half, throwing the most protective red curtain around them at all times.

But it was in midfield and up front that Belgium excelled. Frequently, Belgium looked as if their stunningly efficient and improvisational football on the counter attack would leave Brazil on some remote island in the middle of nowhere. It was football of the sharpest, quickest and most incisive kind. Belgium drilled holes in the Brazilians defence relentlessly and powerfully, weaving their way in and out of the five times winners of the World Cup rather like needlework technicians, carefully sewing their patterns with delicate precision.

And then Belgium let their magicians out of the hat and the world looked on agog. Kevin De Bruyne of Manchester City was now playing some of the finest football of his life, dribbling with the ball with a conjuror's sleight of hand, assessing and analysing every attacking possibility like a scientist in a laboratory experimenting with chemicals in a test tube. De Bruyne was forever asking questions, posing teasers, scheming, testing the ground, exploring avenues, opening up Brazil like a present at a children's birthday party.

Then there was Marouane Fellaini, whose remarkably large afro hairstyle really does stand out in a crowd. Fellaini has enjoyed  a moderately satisfying season for Manchester United but, to the outsider, still has the unorthodox and unconventional about him This is not to suggest that Fellaini should take up basketball or perhaps tennis but his passing can be on the wayward side at times. Still, against Brazil he did look much more comfortable on the ball and never remotely ill at ease.

Finally, Belgium had the inimitable Eden Hazard, surely one of the players of the World Cup so far. Hazard has been impeccably skilful, always imaginative and he body swerved his way around players as if they'd been rendered temporarily invisible. For Chelsea Hazard runs at defenders from deep in his own half, sweeps forward like a gazelle on the plains and then exchanges the daintiest of wall passes or short passes as if he'd done the same thing a thousand times.

For Belgium, Hazard was absolutely breathtaking, a master craftsman with all the hammers and chisels of the most skilled practitioners. Hazard, even when confronted with a wall of yellow shirted Brazilians, somehow wriggled his way in and out of cul-de-sacs, reversing out of brief moments of crisis with all the composure of the most experienced driver.

It was no surprise at all when Belgium took the lead. A corner swung dangerously towards the near post seemed to hang in the air and Fernandinho, who was outstanding for Pep Guardiola's Manchester City last season jumped with a posse of players and his header seemed to brush off his forehead. It was a Brazilian own goal and that if that sounds like a novelty then it probably is.

Minutes later Belgium extended the lead quite amazingly. Just when the Brazilians came up for air, the red shirts of Belgium swarmed forward on the break, tip toeing through a now fragile Brazilian team with the neatest of footwork and passes. This was football of Brazilian simplicity, of streamlined perfection, devastating speed of thought and clinical execution. It couldn't be happening and yet it was. This was the most radical breakthrough for Belgian football and very few of us could have ever imagined that this was the way things would turn out.

Quite what must be going through the minds of their neighbours Holland is anybody's guess because this must be unbearable. For years Holland were the model pioneers, the exponents of Total Football, Johan Cruyff dragging back and stepping over the ball with all of the wizardry and dexterity of a street footballer in Amsterdam. Now though Belgium have their own performance artists such as De Bruyne and Hazard and this must seem like the most upsetting of insults.

Belgium scored what proved to be the game's conclusive second goal half way through the first half. De Bruyne picked up the ball from quite a distance after another piece of Belgian passing poetry he drove the ball fiercely past Brazil keeper Alisson. Game over for Brazil.

In the second half Brazil did produce the most stirring of recoveries and some of the old lyrics, verses and grammatical niceties that the Brazilians have always been renowned for re-surfaced hearteningly and rousingly. Marcelo held onto the ball as if the kid in the playground had given it to him permanently. Marcelo began to nurse and cherish the ball, Paulinho, still looks graceful and well balanced and Phillipe Coutinho is an enormously gifted player of severe striking power. But this was not to be a day of genuine Brazilian showpieces, a day when everything came together.

Although Renato Augusto pulled a goal back for the Brazilians from another inventive and well weighted cross from Coutinho, Brazil were now searching for buried treasure. They rallied forward with their usual fare of bewilderingly dizzying passes to feet but nothing seemed to stick. And so the Brazilian symphony has been silenced and the conductor has put down their baton.

Belgium have set themselves up with perhaps the tastiest, spiciest and juiciest World Cup semi final contest with their neighbours France. Who could have envisaged that the World Cup had this up its sleeve when the tournament started a couple of weeks ago? Argentina, Germany and Spain have been and gone and England are still there which can only be a good thing. We can sense a World Cup Final that may live indelibly in the memory for many a decade and that's something we should always remember.