Goals from Marouane Fellaini and Dries
Mertens saw Belgium come from behind
to beat Algeria in their World Cup Group
H opener in Belo Horizonte.
Algeria took the lead
when Sofiane Feghouli scored from the
spot after being fouled by Tottenham
defender Jan Vertonghen.
Manchester United’s Fellaini, a second-
half substitute, equalised with an
header shortly after coming on.
And Mertens scored the winner when he
finished off a swift counter-attack.
The 80th-minute strike prompted an
eruption of relief from the Belgium
bench, not least from coach Marc
Wilmots, who had spent most of the
match looking understandably pensive.
His side had 65% possession but for most
of the game found it difficult to
penetrate an Algeria defence
marshalled by former Rangers centre-
half Madjid Bougherra.
The European side, the seeded team in
the group and widely tipped to do well in
Brazil after an impressive qualifying
campaign, fielded an imposing starting
XI, with the Chelsea pair of Eden Hazard
and Romelu Lukaku in attack, while
Spurs’ Mousa Dembele and former
Chelsea man Kevin de Bruyne sat in
midfield.
They were rocked in the 24th minute
when forward Feghouli was hauled down
by Vertonghen in the area as he aimed
to convert Faouzi Ghoulam’s cross.
The Valencia player recovered to sidefoot
a tame penalty past another Blues
player Thibaut Courtois, who dived the
wrong way. That was Algeria’s first
World Cup goal since 1986.
Belgium’s best early chances were from
long distance and fell to Zenit St
Petersburg’s Axel Witsel, who had two
efforts saved before failing to convert a
header.
The pattern changed with the Belgium
substitutions. First to test the goal was
19-year-old Lille striker Divock Origi,
who forced a brilliant low save from Rais
Mbolhi.
Gaps began to grow in a tiring Algeria
defence, and a fresh Fellaini took
advantage of that when he outmuscled
marker Carl Medjani and flicked his
effort beyond the reach of Mbolhi.
The winner came from a move that
showed off Belgium’s attack at its best.
De Bruyne tackled Feghouli in his own
half and when the ball found its way to
Hazard on the left, the PFA young
player of the year sped down the wing
and fed Mertens, who slammed his shot
high into the net.
Belgium almost grabbed a third through
Fellaini, but Mbolhi produced another
good save from point-blank range.
Belgium coach Marc Wilmots:
“It was a tough match but we were
patient throughout and at the end we
were rewarded.
“We stayed calm after doing a small
mistake in the first half. We got a new
momentum. We saw that Algeria were
getting more and more tired. At half-
time people were a bit down, but I said
‘don’t worry, we will score and we will
change totally the match’.”
Algeria coach Vahid Halilhodzic:
“It’s a major disappointment. I would
have liked to have a couple of tougher
and more resilient players to resist their
attacks but I don’t have much of a
choice.
“We missed a great opportunity here.
But in the second half it was a bit tough.
We left too much space to the Belgian
team and the two goals scored against
us were to be expected.”