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.
The north African side took a shock 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 a looping 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.
Match facts
- Belgium striker Romelu Lukaku failed to register a single touch in the opposition area
- Algeria ended a run of 506 minutes without a goal at the World Cup finals
- Thibaut Courtois is yet to lose a match he has played for Belgium (W11 D7) and has kept 10 clean sheets in 18 games
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.
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."
Tottenham defender Vertonghen protested against the card and penalty decision in Estadio Mineirao
Feghouli ended Algeria's barren World Cup run in the 24th minute
Belgium supporters packed an arena in Antwerp to watch the match unfold on a big screem
Fellaini scored Belgium's first goal at a World Cup since they were last in the competition in 2002
Match-winner Mertens scored 11 goals for Napoli last season
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