World Cup Group H match review: Belgium v. Algeria at Belo Horizonte

There are few teams your humble correspondent has been more excited about seeing in action in Brazil than the Belgians. An unheralded side appearing in its first World Cup since 2002, de rode duivels boast some of Europe’s most interesting players – Eden Hazard, Vincent Kompany, Romelu Lukaku, Thibaut Courtois, Marouane Fellaini, Adnan Januzaj. Their performances over the last four years have given rise to the possibility to that a new name could be added to the winners’ roll in 2014. In Belo Horizonte (‘beautiful horizon’), capital of the dairy-producing state of Minas Gerais, they took on an Algerian team which has quietly improved in the last four years to become the top national selection in Africa.

The first part of the game was a well-balanced affair, with both teams slowly finding their rhythm in the scorching mineiro sunshine. Axel Witsel began the serious attack, with a missile from outside the penalty area to force a save in the twenty-first minute. Three minutes later, Sofiane Feghouli was rushing to get on the end of a difficult cross when he was needlessly brought down in the box by Jan Vertonghen. Feghouli converted truly and les fennecs were, against all expectations, 1-0 up. Belgium, or (to be specific) Witsel and Nacer Chadli, looked more likely for the rest of the half but, let down by some poor set-pieces from Kevin de Bruyne, they couldn’t equalise before the break, even with two-thirds of the possession.

The scoreline had a familiar ring to it. At Gijón thirty-two years and a day prior, Algeria had been 1-0 up in their first ever World Cup match against the heavyweight West Germans. On that day, les fennecs suffered an equaliser before winning 2-1. Was history about to repeat itself?

Coach Marc Wilmots began the second half with a tactical change, replacing Chadli with Napoli’s Dries Mertens. He used up all three of his substitutions by the sixty-fifth minute, at which time Marouane Fellaini was brought on. The first twenty-five minutes of the second half were more of the same. Belgium tried to crack through the Algerian defence, but the North Africans were only menacing at the front for brief moments. It was five minutes after Fellaini’s introduction that les diables rouges found the equaliser they had been looking for. Eden Hazard found de Bruyne with enough space to line up a perfect cross, from which the mighty afro of Fellaini headed home the golden generation’s first score on the biggest stage of all.

When Hazard passed laterally to Mertens to set up the winner ten minutes later, it didn’t feel at all unexpected. After a cautious start, Belgium spent the last twenty minutes putting on a footballing masterclass of well-timed long balls, deft crosses, and classic playmaking from Hazard. The tournament’s dark horses had survived their first scare, one that will only serve to increase their urgency against Russia and South Korea.

Belgium 2 (Maroune Fellaini 70’; Dries Mertens 80’) – Algeria 1 (Sofiane Feghouli 25’ pen.)

Cautions: Jan Vertonghen (Belg.) 24’; Nabil Bentaleb (Alg.) 34’

Man of the match: Kevin de Bruyne (Belg.)