Won't take any team lightly, says Martinez post England win

Belgium coach, Roberto Martinez, was happy that his side, which had nine fresh faces, managed to secure the win against England on Thursday.

"We will now focus on Japan and it's not right to think anything beyond that," said Belgium coach Roberto Martinez after his side's 1-0 win over England on Thursday.

Belgium coasted to the top of Group G courtesy of a 1-0 win over England on Thursday. The win meant the Red Devils will meet Japan in the round-of-16 stage. With neither side keen to top the group, the match was a subdued affair and was was decided by a moment of brilliance from Adnan Januzaj.

Speaking to the media post the match, Belgium coach, Roberto Martinez, was happy that his side, which had nine fresh faces, managed to secure the win.

READ: Belgium scrapes past England, tops group

"I am delighted with our performance. We made nine changes and that's unthinkable in international football. But the players were in sync and everybody wants to contribute and that augurs well for us. We will now focus on Japan and it's not right to think anything beyond that," said Martinez.

"The performance of (Adnan) Januzaj and the other youngsters show that we are on the right course in producing another generation of great players. We played an entertaining game against Japan recently and though there has been a change in coach, there's not much change in their formation. They are a technical and quick side and we will have a tough job.

"Winning at all costs was not an option, but we had to play in the right spirit and we just tried to spread the group and to check who can contribute. That's why we made the changes and we are happy with what we saw. Sometimes you have to be cautious to protect a few players for the business end of the tournament," he added.

Martinez went on to add that Belgium would take no team lightly. "This World Cup is very unpredictable and we are not looking at paths and we are just looking at contributing together. We have seen Germany are out, Argentina came close, so we shouldn't take anyone lightly," he said.

Match winner Januzaj was happy to have scored his first goal for the national team. "I feel great that I got my first goal for the national team in the World Cup and I am hopeful more will come. I have faced a lot of criticism in England and I wanted to show them that I have the game. It feels nice to score against a quality opponent and now we have to look forward," he said.