Belgium 2, Algeria 1
It seemed a bit surprising that Algeria was able to take the 1-0 lead, frankly. But indeed, Algeria's Sofiane Feghouli was able to hit on a penalty kick in the 25th minute, proving Algeria with a 1-0 lead against Belgium, a team with enormous expectations, and who had been favored to win big in this contest.
Algeria kept Belgium scoreless through the remainder of the first half, and through most of the second half, too.
But Belgium came storming back. And it was their substitutes who were able to make the difference, a point that Belgian coach Marc Wilmots not only emphasized, but had actually predicted.
Marouane Fellaini scored the equalizer for Belgium with a header in the 70th minute.
Then, ten minutes later (the 80th minute), Dries Mertens was able to break through for Belgium, and suddenly, they were up, with little time left.
Belgium was able to hold a tired Algerian team off for the rest of the way to preserve the win. It was not what everybody wanted, but the coach reiterated that the results were what counts the most, and Belgium did earn the win.
Here are some thoughts from Belgian coach Marc Wilmots about the win:
“We were very calm and handled this very well. In the dressing room I had written that substitutes would make all the difference. We were a bit slow in the first half. We did not find solutions to a team that did not want to play. After that we saw momentum. The Algerian team was getting tired.”
“You may not be happy. The result is what counts. We had six opportunities and they were given one, full stop. I should congratulate the players for their mentality. We made major progress and headway.
“At half-time the players were a bit down but I said: ‘Don’t worry, we will completely change the course of the match.’ We deserved to win.”
All quotes above taken from: Marc Wilmots never lost faith in Belgium team during defeat of Algeria published by Owen Gibson at Estádio Mineirão for The Guardian, June 17, 2014:
http://www.theguardian.com/football/2014/jun/17/marc-wilmots-belgium-algeria-world-cup
Brazil 0, Mexico 0
This was, by far, the most exciting no score game that I ever saw in my life!
I know, a lot of people would hear something like that and raise their eyebrows, and wonder how such a thing could be.
But truly, both teams played well yesterday. Mexico gave itself some chances, and you could see them growing more confident as the game wore on. They had a real chance to win it.
Still, the most brilliant chances were, predictably, from the Brazilian side. And on pretty much any other day, against any other opponent (or more specifically, any other goal keeper), Brazil would have won this game.
The Mexican keeper, Guillermo Ochoa, was absolutely brilliant! One incredible save after another! If it were not for him, I am pretty sure that Brazil would have notched a second win here, and essentially would have clinched the division, for all intents and purposes.
There just are not enough words for how big he came up, time and again, under some incredible pressure! He essentially lifted his team up, on a day where they played well, but he played arguably the best game of his life, and at the biggest moment of his life, to become a star. If Mexico, a team that has not allowed a goal yet in this World Cup, goes on to advance to the next round (I'm pretty sure they will), they can, and should, thank their MVP so far, Guillermo Ochoa!
While Mexico can be mostly happy about a scoreless tie against Brazil, Brazil surely must feel like it was a missed opportunity. Although it still seems likely that they will advance (it's almost inconceivable that they won't, frankly), this tie probably feels closer to a loss. After all, their win against Croatia was less than dominant, and not without controversy, at that. A solid win, even a 1-0 win outright, would have made them look and feel better. But they have shown vulnerabilities in these two games so far, and look anything but unbeatable. I still would not want to have to face them in the elimination round but, Mexico made them look a lot less invincible, or even daunting, with that impressive performance yesterday!
Russia 1, South Korea 1
For a long time, this appeared to be heading towards being the third scoreless tie game in two days (Brazil and Mexico earlier in the day, and Iran and Nigeria the day before). It remained scoreless throughout the first half, and even through much of the second half. Both teams had some chances, but neither team had managed any kind of a real breakthrough.
It really was a momentary screw up that allowed South Korea's first (and only) goal to go in in the 68th minute. Lee Keun-Ho shot the ball right at Russian keeper Igor Akinfeev, who seemed to have it under control. But again, it seemed like a momentary lapse in concentration, as the ball popped right up out of his hands, and over his head, right to the back of the goal. He scrambled and tried to prevent this, but it was too late. Akinfeev was clearly distraught afterward,
Kerzhakov bailed Akinfeev, and Russia, out, with the tying goal in the 74th minute, after quite a bit of chaos in front of the South Korean goal. Russia was really pressing, but he finally collected the ball, and himself, and just nailed it into the goal decisively, and just like that, the game was back to being tied.
Still, South Korean coach, and soccer legend, Hong Myung-Bo was satisfied by the team's defensive efforts in the 1-1 draw.
And as for Russia, they might have been expecting a win. But they should feel lucky to at least have gotten a point out of this one, instead of an outright loss, because after that mistaken goal, that is where it seemed to be heading. Russian coach Fabio Capello said that he was happy with his team's quick response after the Lee goal. And indeed, their effort that led to the fast, answering goal was impressive.
Some positives, and indeed negatives, for both teams in this one.
Some other World Cup news:
World Cup news in the United States seems a bit strange. I clicked on this link for ABC News, for some material on the Belgium-Algeria contest. And the headline was for Russia and South Korea. But far more material was written about the United States, and their thrilling victory over Ghana. I know that was a huge win, but there are 31 other teams playing this tournament, and some people might be interested in hearing about other results as well.
Is this a sports version of "American exceptionalism? Take a look for yourself:
http://abcnews.go.com/Sports/belgium-algeria-world-cup-live-updates-day/story?id=24144483
Here's some good news! France swears that they are united this time:
Stephan: France are united posted by ESPN Staff, June 18, 2014:
http://www.espnfc.us/team/france/478/video/1890497/stephan-france-are-united
And here, finally, are some of the big standouts and disappointments so far in this World Cup, according to ESPN:
http://www.espnfc.us/fifa-world-cup/4/video/1890382/group-stage-standouts-and-disappointments
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