Senne Lammens: Belgian media react to Man United goalkeeper's 'monumental' blunder vs Spain

Manchester United goalkeeper Senne Lammens has likely experienced the most difficult 24 hours of his young career so far after making a mistake that saw Belgium knocked out of the World Cup by Spain.

The 24-year-old spilled Pau Cubarsi's shot in the final minutes, allowing Mikel Merino to smash home the rebound to see Spain win 2-1 and progress to the final four.

Fabian Ruiz had opened the scoring for the European champions, before Charles De Ketelaere levelled before the break to set up a closely-contested second half.

Lammens has only ever made three appearances for the senior Belgium team and had been sitting on the bench for the entirety of the tournament, before Thibaut Courtois' injury in the 71st minute.

The goalkeeper had a superb first season since joining Man United from Royal Antwerp last summer, but will require time to recover from such a damaging moment.

Spain will meet France in the semi-final in Dallas on Tuesday, with the other semi-final to be decided over the next two days.

Belgium media slam Senne Lammens

It will undoubtedly take some time for Lammens to recover from such a painful moment, but the goalkeeper's future is bright nonetheless.

No goalkeeper has gone through their career without making a significant mistake, but most of those have not come at the World Cup quarter-final.

Still, the 24-year-old is set for a long career with Belgium and it says much that Rudi Garcia trusted him enough to turn to him when Courtois was injured.

Johan Walckiers, for Voetbalkrant, gave Lammens a three out of 10 for his display, and wrote: "We don't want to be unnecessarily harsh, but without that blunder by Senne Lammens, this match might still be being played at the moment we are writing this.

"Painful, although that won't stop him from building a great career with the Red Devils in the future."

7sur7 shared a similarly sympathetic review, rating the goalkeeper with a four out of 10 and writing that he made "a monumental error". "He parried Cubarsí's long-range shot straight to Merino, who simply had to tap the ball in," they continued. "The most difficult moment of his young career."

Zlatan Ibrahimovic does not hold back on Lammens

While the Belgian media chose to sympathise with a young goalkeeper who had made a costly mistake, not everyone shared the same attitude.

Zlatan Ibrahimovic told Fox Sports that Lammens "isn't a good goalkeeper" and that he is "overrated".

The former Man United striker claimed that Chelsea goalkeeper Mike Penders, who is just 20 and spent last season on loan with Strasbourg, should have been Garcia's choice off the bench.

Lammens will be aware that signing for a club of the size of Man United earns you such a level of attention, but his club must support him now.