The dark horse is something everybody speculates about in large tournaments such as the World Cup. The underdog who can come out of nowhere and surprise everyone. For many people, this team is Belgium. Belgium boasts a team packed with young and talented stars from all over the world.
The first half of the match saw very little action. There were a few shots from both teams but all of them were either off target or too weak to beat the keepers. Finally a cross from the Algerian side was well on its way to meet Sofiane Feghouli when Belgian center back Jan Vertonghen committed a foul on the Algerian midfielder inside the box for a penalty. Vertonghen was shown the yellow card. Feghouli took the minute 23 penalty himself and converted for Algeria for the only goal of the first half.
The second half began with a confident Algeria retaining possession of the ball but the Belgian substitutions made all of the difference in this game. Marouane Fellaini came on as a substitute during minute 65 and only five minutes later, a cross by Kevin De Bruyne found Marouane Fellaini who headed the ball into the underside of the crossbar and into the goal for the equalizer.
Then in minute 80, a breakaway by Eden Hazard led to a through ball to Dries Mertens who came on at half for Nacer Chadli. Mertens then blasted the ball past Algerian keeper Rais M’Bohli with a powerful shot putting Belgium ahead 2 to 1. Only minutes later a header once again made its way to Fellaini who once again headered wonderfully but only to be denied by M’Bohli who undoubtedly was the most valuable player of the match for Algeria.
Belgium took the victory in the match but was late to begin to perform. The Belgium side failed to impress during the first half but after the break came back strong. They will also need to fine tune some aspects of their game especially since they only got two goals after 16 shots and only 10 of them on target. After proving today that they can play top level football, they may just be able to surprise this World Cup after all.
Photo Credit: Leonhard Foeger/Reuters