De Bruyne faces career-defining match with Belgium's 'golden generation'

Kevin de Bruyne is undoubtedly one of the best players in the world, but he and his Belgian teammates might be about to experience a moment they will never live down.

On Thursday afternoon, Belgium will take on Croatia in a game that will determine their World Cup fate. The Red Devils, after fortuitously winning the opening group stage game against Canada before suffering a surprise loss to Morocco, realistically must win if they are to avoid an early exit from the tournament.

De Bruyne is the headline star of a 'golden generation' of Belgian players, but neither he nor his teammates have gotten anywhere near meeting expectations in Qatar.

With stars including De Bruyne, Romelu Lukaku as well as Eden and Thorgan Hazard at Roberto Martinez' disposal, on paper Belgium have never had a better squad. Four years ago in Russia they got to the semi-finals with largely the same group of players, but four years on the performances of the team could not look more different.

They look slow, tired, sluggish and bereft of imagination. To be fair to De Bruyne, he did predict that his side would not go all that far in Qatar. When asked by The Guardian if Belgium could win the tournament, he said: "No chance, we’re too old."

De Bruyne has won almost all there is to win at City, four Premier League crowns perhaps making up for the absence - so far - of a Champions League winner's medal. Yet unless something drastically changes and Belgium find a way to beat a Croatia - whose own ageing golden generation appear to have got their collective act together - then De Bruyne could find himself part of the club of greats who never 'did it' on the international stage.

At City De Bruyne has stepped up to the plate in plenty of big moments; wins against Chelsea and Leicester this year spring to mind. But like the greatest players in history, he needs a good team structure around him to truly perform at his best. At City he has that, with Belgium he doesn't.

Nevertheless, the best players always save something for when it matters most. De Bruyne must now not only put in a performance worthy of one of the best central midfielders in the world, but he must also instill confidence in his teammates and help make them believe they are not 'too old' to go through. Here, he has a chance to lead by example and prove he has the mindset, as well as the ability, of a winner rather than one of someone who was already looking for excuses before a ball had been kicked.

City fans will of course be cheering De Bruyne and Belgium on against Croatia on Thursday afternoon, but it could well be that the midfielder returns to the CFA sooner than anticipated. That would be no bad thing for City, but it would be a pain hard to take for a player that demands so much of himself and those around him.