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Match Day 1 of World Cup 2014 wrapped up with two nail biters, as Belgium came back from an early one-point defecit against Algeria to win 2-1 and Russia made up for a botched save from goalkeeper Igor Akinfeev to draw 1-1 with South Korea.
Belgium-Algeria
Tournament dark horse Belgium rallied with two late goals to secure three valuable points with a 2-1 victory over Algeria in Group H’s opening match. Belgium opened the match on the attack, as the Red Devils consistently pushed forward, putting Algeria on the back foot. Algeria, known as the “Desert Foxes,” were content sitting back, conjuring memories of the epic 2010 World Cup match against the United States when Algeria played extremely cautiously, even in the waning moments, before Landon Donovan finally and famously broke through for the Americans. In fact, Algeria did not score in any of their three matches in the group stage during the World Cup that year.
Despite Belgium’s aggressiveness, it was Algeria who scored first. Following a counter attack, Valencia star Sofiane Feghouli was tugged down in the box by Tottenham’s Jan Vertonghen, who earned a yellow card for his negligence. Feghouli stepped to the spot and calmly slotted the ball past Belgian star keeper Thibaut Courtois to take the early lead. It was the first goal scored by Algeria in their last 504 minutes of World Cup play.
Coming into the match, Belgium was 1-16-1 in the World Cup when allowing the first goal, but the Red Devils refused to back down. They continued their aggressiveness and dominated possession throughout the first half. However, although they had plenty of the ball, they struggled to do much with it, as star players Eden Hazard, Romelu Lukaku, and Kevin De Bruyne couldn't seem to make an impact throughout the first half.
The majority of the second half was the same story. After nearly scoring in the 57th minute off a corner, Belgian manager Marc Wilmots made a bold substitution, taking off Lukaku for 19-year old forward Divock Origi, who plays his club football for Lille in France. He was given an early scoring opportunity on the break in the 66th minute, but shot the ball directly at Algerian keeper Rais M’Bolhi, leading to an easy save. As the Belgians continued to struggle to find a goal, it was evident they were desperately missing the services of star forward Christian Benteke, who ruptured his achilles playing for Aston Villa back in April.
The Belgians were finally able to break through thanks to two of their substitutes. In the 70th minute, substitute Marouane Fellaini, castigated for his poor performance this season in the English Premier League for Manchester United, got his head and magnificent hair on a cross from De Bruyne that went off the crossbar and in to equalize.
Marouane Fellaini got his head and his hair on a cross to score the equalizer for Belgium (Photo: @FourFourTweet | Twitter)Marouane Fellaini got his head and his hair on a cross to score the equalizer for Belgium (Photo: @FourFourTweet | Twitter)
Ten minutes later, Dries Mertens scored the winner following a counterattack, as Hazard found him with a tremendous through-ball that Mertens powered past M’Bolhi.
The victory gives the Red Devils a great opportunity to win the group, as most predicted before the World Cup started. They will have to up their game however, as they struggled to create scoring opportunities throughout. With the winner of Group H playing the runner up of Group G in the first knockout round, fans of the United States would do well to scout the Red Devils as a future opponent of the beloved Yanks.
The Red Devils celebrate their victory, but will need to up their game to live up to their "dark horse" reputation in the tournament (Photo: @worldsoccertalk | Twitter)
Russia-South Korea
Russia and South Korea played to a hard-fought 1-1 draw in the second match of the day in Group H. The match featured past and future World Cup hosts in what most experts believe will be the battle for second place in the group. There were not many players on the pitch recognizable to most American fans, as the Russians fielded the only squad in the World Cup with all 23 players playing in its domestic league. As the last clubs to get their World Cup campaign underway, each side was nervy at the start, with a lack of crispness on passes and shots in the early going.
The two squads were evenly matched throughout, as possession was nearly equal and each side seemed content to shoot from distance. Both the Russian keeper,, and the South Korean keeper, Jung Sung-Ryong, faced questions about their performance and decision-making coming into the World Cup. Both Akinfeev and Sung-Ryong were tested throughout the match with long shots, as their inability to catch the shots cleanly, parrying them back into play only encouraged more shots from that range.
Akinfeev blinked first with a catastrophic error in the 68th minute on a shot from South Korean substitute Keun-Ho Lee. The ball hit Akinfeev directly in the hands, but the ball bounced up and over his head into the goal. The incident must have led to a PTSD flashback for Russian manager Fabio Capello, who witnessed a similar muff by his keeper Robert Green as the manager of England in its match against the United States in the 2010 World Cup opener. An error of that kind would be harsh under any conditions, let alone in such a hard-fought, evenly-matched World Cup opening match.
Akinfeev went from the saddest to the happiest man in the stadium following Alexandr Kerzhakov’s equalizer in the 74th minute. Kerzekhov, the only holdover from Russia’s last trip to the World Cup in 2002, took advantage of chaos in front of the goal to poke the ball past Sung-Ryong to earn a well-deserved draw.
With the draw, both sides remain poised to challenge for a spot in the knockout round. In the next set of matches, South Korea takes on Algeria, while the Russians draw Belgium on Sunday, June 22nd. These will be a good precursor to the United States-Portugal match that evening.
