The last four teams to play their first game at this World Cup (Group H) finally get to do so, and what promised to be another exciting encounter between CONCACAF (fallen?) giant Mexico and World Cup favorite (still?) and hosts Brazil started off the second batch of group stage matchups
Group H: Belgium vs. Algeria
Result: 2-1 win for Belgium
Goalscorers: 25' penalty Sofiane Feghouli (Valencia), 70' Marouane Fellaini (Manchester United), 80' Dries Mertens (Napoli)
Bookings: 24' Jan Vertonghen (Tottenham), 34' Nabil Bentaleb (Tottenham)
Lineups
Belgium (4-2-3-1)
Thibaut Courtois (Atletico Madrid); Toby Alderweireld (Atletico Madrid), Daniel Van Buyten (Bayern Munich), Vincent Kompany (Manchester City, captain), Jan Vertonghen (Tottenham); Axel Witsel (Zenit), Mousa Dembele (Tottenham); Nacer Chadli (Tottenham), Kevin De Bruyne (Wolfsburg), Eden Hazard (Chelsea); Romelu Lukaku (Everton)
Subs:
Dries Mertens (Napoli) 46' for Nacer Chadli
Divock Origi (Lille) 58' for Romelu Lukaku
Marouane Fellaini (Manchester United) 65' for Mousa Dembele
Algeria (4-3-2-1)
Rais M'Bolhi (CSKA Sofia); Mehdi Mostefa (Ajaccio), Madjid Bougherra (Lekhwiya, captain), Rafik Halliche (Academica), Faouzi Ghoulam (Napoli); Saphir Taider (Inter), Carl Medjani (Valenciennes), Nabil Bentaleb (Tottenham); Sofiane Feghouli (Valencia), Riyad Mahrez (Leicester City); El Arbi Hillel Soudani (Dinamo Zagreb)
Subs:
Islam Slimani (Sporting CP) 66' for El Arbi Hillel Soudani
Medhi Lacen (Getafe) 71' for Riyad Mahrez
Nabil Ghilas (Porto) 84' for Carl Medjani
Fun fact: 50% of the Tottenham players that played today got yellow cards. Was Belgium's win expected? Yes. Was Algeria putting up a hell of a fight expected? Not quite. It's fair to say Algeria don't get enough credit. I mean Algeria did make life hell for England and USA at the last World Cup, who collectively only scored one goal against a sturdy and resilient Algerian defense (that one goal being Landon Donovan's awesome last minute winner that allowed USA to win their group and advance from the group stage), and even though they're lead by a man who plays for a Qatari (Qatar inexplicably being 2022 hosts for the World Cup) club, their defense is still solid as a rock. Even for a Belgian side with a lot of dangerous offensive players from the ones every knows like Eden Hazard to the lesser know talents like Axel Witsel and Kevin De Bruyne. What I found most interesting from the starting lineup Marc Wilmots was his decision to start Daniel Van Buyten, who hadn't appeared too frequently for Bayern Munich this season, over Thomas Vermaelen (a fair point: Vermaelen didn't get much more playing time for Arsenal). Also interesting is the fact that Van Buyten is the only player with World Cup experience for Belgium, who played alongside Marc Wilmots in 2002 South Korea/Japan. A poor challenge from Jan Vertonghen gave Algeria a penalty that Sofiane Feghouli converted to give Algeria a 1-0 lead that they defended until the subs came on and Fellaini and Mertens were the spark Belgium needed to take all 3 points in this match. Definitely not too convincing for Belgium but this is their first world cup game in 12 years. They're still a talented team, and time will tell if this match will ignite a fire in them to make a deep run in the tournament. But judging from this match, anyone who predicted Belgium to win the World Cup should feel pretty stupid. A personal victory for Algeria though: They scored their first World Cup goal since Djamel, not Zinedane, Zidane scored the equalizer against Northern Ireland in the group stage of the 1986 World Cup.
Group A: Brazil vs. Mexico
Result: 0-0
Bookings: 45' Ramires (Chelsea), 59' Paul Aguilar (America), 62' Jose Vazquez (Leon), 79' Thiago Silva (PSG)
Lineups
Brazil (4-2-3-1)
Julio Cesar (Toronto FC); Dani Alves (Barcelona), Thiago Silva (PSG, captain), David Luiz (Chelsea), Marcelo (Real Madrid); Paulinho (Tottenham), Luiz Gustavo (Wolfsburg); Oscar (Chelsea), Ramires (Chelsea), Neymar (Barcelona); Fred (Fluminense)
Subs:
Bernard (Shaktar Donetsk) 46' for Ramires
Jo (Atletico Mineiro) 68' for Fred
Willian (Chelsea) 84' for Oscar
Mexico (5-3-2)
Guillermo Ochoa (Ajaccio); Franciscio Rodriguez (America), Rafael Marquez (Leon, captain), Hector Moreno (Espanyol), Paul Aguilar (America), Miguel Layun (America); Hector Herrera (Porto), Jose Vazquez (Leon), Andres Guardado (Bayer Leverkusen); Giovani Dos Santos (Villarreal), Oribe Peralta (Santos Laguna)
Subs:
Javier Hernandez (Manchester United) 74' for Oribe Peralta
Marco Fabian (Cruz Azul) 76' for Hector Herrera
Raul Jimenez (America) 84' for Giovani Dos Santos
Hulk got injured in training so Ramires replaced him in the starting lineup, meaning Chelsea's Brazil quarter went 3 for 4 in starting, but the other member of the quarter Willian would come on as a substitute. A rematch from the 2012 Olympic Gold Medal game (Mexico won 2-1) and a match from the 2013 Confederations Cup (Brazil won 2-0), these two teams are familiar with one another, Mexico being the team Brazil has played against more than any other non-South American team in international soccer. Both teams were hoping for a win to practically seal the deal on their qualification for the 2nd round, and despite both teams playing with real attacking intent, this game ended up with the same scoreline as Nigeria and Iran (I know, weird right?) The main talking point though would be Guillermo Ochoa making some impressive saves to give Mexico a well earned point, who showed their talents across the pitch in both offense and defense against a quality opponent like Brazil. Mexico would certainly be more satisfied with the draw than Brazil did, whose fans seem displeased by Brazil's inability to beat a team who needed help from the USA to qualify. However, Mexico are playing like they deserve to be here, and if Mexico played this well throughout qualifying they certainly wouldn't have needed help from anyone to qualify. With 4 points from 6 games, Brazil and Mexico will like their chances of emerging victorious from the group unless either Cameroon or Croatia have a stellar two games.
Group H: Russia vs. South Korea
Result: 1-1
Goalscorers: 68' Lee Keun-Ho (Sangju Sangmu), 74' Aleksandr Kerzhakov (Zenit)
Bookings: 13' Son Heung-Min (Bayer Leverkusen), 30' Ki Sung-Yueng (Sunderland), 49' Oleg Shatov (Zenit), 90' Koo Ja-Cheol (Mainz 05)
Lineups
Russia (4-5-1)
Igor Akinfeev (CSKA Moscow); Andrey Yeshchenko (Anzhi), Sergei Ignashevich (CSKA Moscow), Vasili Berezutski (CSKA Moscow, captain), Dmitri Kombarov (Spartak Moscow); Denis Glushakov (Spartak Moscow), Viktor Fayzulin (Zenit), Yuri Zhirkov (Dynamo Moscow), Aleksandr Samedov (Lokomotiv Moscow), Oleg Shatov (Zenit); Aleksandr Kokorin (Dynamo Moscow)
Subs:
Alan Dzagoev (CSKA Moscow) 59' for Oleg Shatov
Aleksandr Kerzhakov (Zenit) 71' for Yuri Zhirkov
Igor Denisov (Dynamo Moscow) 72' for Denis Glushakov
South Korea (4-4-2)
Jung Sung-Ryong (Suwon Bluewings); Lee Yong (Ulsan Hyundai), Kim Young-Gwon (Guangzhou Evergrande), Hong Jeong-Ho (FC Augsburg), Yun Suk-Young (Queens Park Rangers); Lee Chung-Yong (Bolton Wanderers), Han Kook-Young (Kashiwa Reysol), Ki Sung-Yueng (Sunderland), Son Heung-Min (Bayer Leverkusen); Park Chu-Young (Watford), Koo Cha-Cheol (Mainz 05)
Subs:
Lee Keun-Ho (Sangju Sangmu) 56' for Park Chu-Young
Hwang Seok-Ho (Sanfrecce Hiroshima) 73' for Hong Jeong-Ho
Kim Bo-Kyung (Cardiff City) 84' for Son Heung-Min
The most well payed manager in the world Fabio Capello went head to head with Hong Myung-Bo, a central figure to South Korea's best ever run at a World Cup back when they cohosted the tournament with Japan in 2002. Hong believes this is the strongest South Korean team since then, while Capello will hope that this campaign goes better than his adventure in South Africa as manager of The Three Lions. Interestingly 10 of the 14 players that featured in this match for Russia (and 14 of 23 in the squad) all play for a club based in Russia, and Russia is the only team completely composed of players from their domestic league. Ultimately these two teams cancelled each other out for most of the match, playing smart but safe for the most part. Then in the 68' minute Igor Akinfeev did something that certainly wasn't smart. He mishandled an "average" shot from Lee Keun-Ho, the ball slipped from his hands and went across the line to give South Korea the lead for 6 minutes before another substitute, Aleksandr Kerzhakov, struck back for the Russians. Funny how this sort of thing only happens to teams Fabio Capello coaches. First Robert Green screws up to cost England two points in a 1-1 draw to the USA in South Africa, and now here in Brazil Igor Akinfeev screws up to cost Russia two points in a 1-1 draw to South Korea. Both teams will like their chances of progressing to the group stage if they can take their chances in future games, but if I had to pick one of these two teams to go through assuming Belgium will no matter what (probably a dangerous assumption since Belgium looked vulnerable against Algeria), I'm liking Russia's odds, only by a little bit.
The next games
Cameroon vs. Croatia
Australia vs. Netherlands
Chile vs. Spain
At risk of elimination
Cameroon: If Croatia beat them
Croatia: If Cameroon beat them
Australia: If Netherlands beats them and Chile at least draws against Spain
Spain: If Chile beats them and Netherlands at least draws against Australia
We've know gone through 17 of 48 group matches at the World Cup, with 30 teams having played once and Mexico and Brazil having played twice. A lot more is at stake here and even though no team will be going home until at the earliest after their third match, these matches could paint a clearer picture of what is to come. Both Cameroon and Croatia are in need of a win, and such a result would wreck the loser's chances of progressing from the group stage. Croatia are the favorites to win due to having stronger players on paper, but Cameroon will believe they have just as good of a chance as Croatia. A draw won't eliminate either team but it doesn't help either team too much either, and gives more power to Mexico and Brazil in the final set of Group A games.
Spain will have had 5 days to get over their shocking and brutal 5-1 loss to the Netherlands against a familiar opponent at the World Cup: Chile. Spain beat this South American team 2-1 when they met in South America, but with Chile looking stronger and Spain looking a bit all over the place, this is the perfect chance for Chile to get revenge and to significantly boost their round of 16 prospects with a result from this match.
You certainly wouldn't want to be Australia right now. Upsets can and do happen, but it would be a huge miracle if Australia even tie against the Dutch. The Aussies will hope to channel their 2006 World Cup campaign which ended in a narrow defeat to eventual champions Italy to have any chance at a pleasant scoreline from this match. The Netherlands are expected to demolish the Aussies but not every giant has lived up to their expectations so far at this World Cup. In Netherlands's case, so far they have exceeded theirs.
Finally, a shout-out to all the substitutes who have scored in this World Cup so far: Jean Beausejour (Chile, vs. Australia). Marco Urena (Costa Rica, vs. Uruguay), Admir Mehmedi (Switzerland, vs. Ecuador), Haris Seferovic (Switzerland, vs. Ecuador), Vedad Ibisevic (Bosnia and Herzegovina, vs. Argentina), John Brooks (United States, vs. Ghana), Marouane Fellani, Dries Mertens, Lee Keun-Ho, and Aleksandr Kerzhakov. A lot of difference makers coming off the bench, making this World Cup even more interesting.
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