Brazil 2014 - Belgium vs Algeria
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Football Index:
World Cup Finals:
Brazil 2014: Belgium vs Algeria.
1st Round Matches at Brazil 2014.
Tuesday, 17th June
Group Match - Surprised to be Not Surprised
Belgium
vs 
Algeria
in Belo Horizonte.
Match Preview
Belgium and Algeria have never met at a World Cup Finals but they have played two international friendly matches; in Brussels (2002) and Annaba (2003).
There were no goals in the Brussels encounter but Belgium did win (3:1) in Annaba, the following year. That was eleven years ago.
The Match
The referee, Marco Rodriguez of Mexico, has some red card form in previous World Cup Finals.
As one of the FIFA Referees at South Africa 2010, Rodriguez produced a red card in both of the matches he refereed: Germany vs Australia and Chile vs Spain.
As one of the FIFA Referees at Germany 2006, he also produced two red cards and nine yellow cards in his second match: C�te d'Ivoire vs Serbia & Montenegro.
Fingers crossed then.
0:1
Algeria took the lead in the 24th minute, after a dozy Jan Vertonghen tugged at Sofiane
Feghouli. Feghouli made no mistake from the spot. With the history of the referee,
Vertonghen can think himself lucky that he didn't see red.
Lukaku started to show his frustration; his team mates needed to wake up and get up towards him quicker.
Passing the ball around is one thing, but it helps if you pass and move; to give others the option to make better passes as a result.
So Belgium became the surprise team of the tournamnet as most people thought they would be; surprised at themselves though, for trailing Algeria at the end of the first half of their opening game.
Half-time: Belgium 0 - Algeria 1
Not surprising that Algeria started to take their time in the second-half either.
1:1
Marouane Fellaini might not have had the best of seasons in Manchester, but his
introduction in the second half - for Mousa Dembele - brought Belgium back into the game;
as he headed in Kevin De Bruyne's cross, after only six minutes on the pitch.
2:1
You can only sit back and defend a penalty lead for so long, especially against a team
that could be the surprise package of the tournament, spiced with inspired second-half
substitutions of the Ottmar Hitzfeld calibre; Dries Mertens, the scorer.
Algeria might feel disappointed after being in front for so long but in all honesty, they can't be surprised they lost.
Final Score: Belgium 2 - Algeria 1
Goalscorers:
0:1 - Sofiane Feghouli (24 mins, penalty)
1:1 - Marouane Fellaini (70 mins)
2:1 - Dries Mertens (80 mins)
Teams
Belgium:
1-Thibaut Courtois; 2-Toby Alderweireld, 4-Vincent Kompany, 15-Daniel Van Buyten, 5-Jan
Vertonghen; 6-Axel Witsel, 19-Mousa Dembele, 22-Nacer Chadli, 7-Kevin De Bruyne; 10-Eden
Hazard, 9-Romelu Lukaku.
Algeria:
23-Rais M'Bolhi; 5-Rafik Halliche, 2-Madjid Bougherra, 12-Carl Medjani, 3-Faouzi Ghoulam;
14-Nabil Bentaleb, 22-Mehdi Mostefa, 19-Saphir Taider; 21-Riyad Mahrez, 15-Hilal Soudani,
10-Sofiane Feghouli.
Referee: Marco Rodriguez - Mexico 
2 yellow cards:
23 mins - Jan Vertonghen (Belgium)
32 mins - Nabil Bentaleb (Algeria)
The Road to Rio
First Round
Thursday, 12th June
Brazil vs Croatia
Friday, 13th June
Chile vs Australia
Mexico vs Cameroon
Spain vs Netherlands
Saturday, 14th June
Colombia vs Greece
Côte d'Ivoire vs Japan
England vs Italy
Uruguay vs Costa Rica
Sunday, 15th June
Argentina vs Bosnia
France vs Honduras
Switzerland vs Ecuador
Monday, 16th June
Germany vs Portugal
Ghana vs USA
Iran vs Nigeria
Tuesday, 17th June
Belgium vs Algeria
Brazil vs Mexico
Russia vs South Korea
Wednesday, 18th June
Australia vs Netherlands
Cameroon vs Croatia
Spain vs Chile
Thursday, 19th June
Colombia vs Côte d'Ivoire
Japan vs Greece
Uruguay vs England
Friday, 20th June
Honduras vs Ecuador
Italy vs Costa Rica
Switzerland vs France
Saturday, 21st June
Argentina vs Iran
Germany vs Ghana
Nigeria vs Bosnia
Sunday, 22nd June
Belgium vs Russia
South Korea vs Algeria
USA vs Portugal
Monday, 23rd June
Australia vs Spain
Cameroon vs Brazil
Croatia vs Mexico
Netherlands vs Chile
Tuesday, 24th June
Costa Rica vs England
Greece vs Côte d'Ivoire
Italy vs Uruguay
Japan vs Colombia
Wednesday, 25th June
Bosnia vs Iran
Ecuador vs France
Honduras vs Switzerland
Nigeria vs Argentina
Thursday, 26th June
Algeria vs Russia
Portugal vs Ghana
South Korea vs Belgium
USA vs Germany
2014 World Cup Finals - Knockout Stage.
World Cup Finals
Uruguay 1930:
Uruguay trailed Argentina at half-time (1:2) but replied with three goals in the second half; to win the first ever World Cup Final (4-2)
on July 30th, 1930.
Italy 1934:
Italy were one of the countries who missed out on the vote to host the first World Cup but managed to win the prestigious golden trophy
for the home fans.
France 1938:
The third World Cup was held in Europe for a second time, although Germany had annexed Austria, and Spain was in civil turmoil.
Brazil 1950:
Although no cup-final as such, Uruguay and Brazil went into their final game with the winner guaranteed to be champions; a draw would be enough for Brazil.
Switzerland 1954:
The fifth World Cup tournament produced a record number of goals, including a 7:5 encounter between Austria and Switzerland in Lausanne.
Sweden 1958:
Brazil presented a 17 year-old Pele to the world; who went on to claim a hat-trick in Brazil's 5:2 semi-final win over France and bag another two in the final.
Chile 1962:
Czechoslovakia overcame Hungary in the quarter-finals and Yugoslavia in the semis, while Brazil took care of England and the host nation, Chile.
England 1966:
Geoff Hurst scored a hat-trick, in the final against West Germany, as England triumphed in a thrilling game watched by Her Majesty, Queen Elizabeth II.
Mexico 1970:
1970 belonged to Pelé, who earned his third World Cup winners' medal when Brazil got their hands on the Jules Rimet Cup.... for keeps.
W. Germany 1974:
Johan Cruyff was the player of the tournament as total football became the buzzword of the day, even though Holland lost to West Germany in the 1974 final.
Argentina 1978:
Holland contested the 1978 World Cup Final, in Argentina, for the second time in a row. As in West Germany,
they again finished runners-up; to the hosts.
Spain 1982:
The Spain 82 World Cup finals increased to 24 teams and the format was changed to have two group stages, with four second-round groups of three.
Mexico 1986:
In 1986, Mexico became the first nation to stage the World Cup Finals for a second time; having only staged the competition sixteen years previously.
Italy 1990:
In 1990, Italy became the World Cup of stalemates. Both semi-finals were drawn out through penalty kicks. In the final itself, the only goal came from the spot.
USA 1994:
Once Team US had played a few games most of the nation began to understand they were hosting the greatest show on earth and how the game was played.
France 1998:
France became the sixth nation to win the World Cup on home soil. Thirty-two teams competed in the 16th World Cup; better known as France 98.
Korea-Japan 2002:
The 17th World Cup, held in Korea and Japan, was the first World Cup finals to be shared by two hosts and the first to be held in Asia.
Germany 2006:
The 2006 World Cup Finals ran from 9th June to 9th July; the opening
match in Munich and the final in Berlin. Munich and Dortmund hosted the
semi-finals.
South Africa 2010:
Eighty years after the First World Cup Finals in Uruguay, the world's most prestigious football competition was finally hosted on the African continent.
Brazil 2014:
Five times World Cup Champions, Brazil, get a second chance to hold the prestigious World Cup Finals; 64 years after they last hosted the tournament.
Russia 2018:
VAR made its World Cup debut and set out to change the course of a game with some crucial rule infringement watching and vital on the spot decisions.
Qatar 2022:
When FIFA executives met in Zurich to decide on who would host the 2018 and 2022 World Cup Finals, Qatar was probably the biggest surprise to many.
United 2026:
The 2026 FIFA World Cup Finals will be jointly hosted by Canada, Mexico
and the United States. The United Bid won the hosting rights ahead of
Morocco.
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