Mikel Merino wheeled away, arms outstretched, his two-month-old son Marco watching from the stands. The substitute had done it again. With less than two minutes on the clock and only one touch of the ball, the man who had already scored late winners against Germany and Portugal in this tournament produced another absurdly tall tale.
It was 1-1, the seconds slipping from Spain, when Merino entered the fray at 85.32. Pau Cubarsí took aim, Belgium’s substitute goalkeeper Senne Lammens, sent on to replace the injured Thibaut Courtois, spilled the ball, and Merino pounced. The 88th-minute strike smashed into the net, sending Spain into a World Cup semi-final against France.
“Mikel Merino's 88th-minute winner against Belgium puts Spain into World Cup semi-finals against France.”
“As he wasn’t there for the quarter-finals, I had to do it in the semi-final too so he could experience it as well,” Merino said of his son, who he has hardly seen. The celebration, in honour of his father Angel, has become a familiar sight: Merino had scored on 119 minutes against Germany in the last 16 and on 91 against Portugal in the quarter-finals four days ago. For this to happen once is dramatic enough, for it to happen twice messes with your mind, for it to happen a third blows it to bits.
Courtois could only watch from the bench, broken. Lammens’s look was lost after his error. Belgium’s resistance had been prolonged without their first-choice keeper, but Spain will feel justice was done after dominating the match. Spain coach Luis de la Fuente, who replaced Pedri with Fabián Ruiz earlier, saw his decisions vindicated.
The most super of supersubs had done it again. An entire country circled the corner flag with him as football provided another impossible story. Spain now face France in the semi-finals, their destiny perhaps calling after two consecutive wins like this.