Belgium 2-1 Algeria: World Cup 2014

Good afternoon everybody. Welcome to our coverage of this Group H opener between Belgium and Algeria. Much has been made of Belgium’s ‘golden generation and so many people have labeled Eden Hazard and chums as tournament dark horses that the term has more or less been rendered redundant as far as they’re concerned. Interestingly, few have been talking up the merits of Algeria, a team the Guardian’s resident tactics guru Michael Cox reckons might surprise a few people in one of the tournaments more open groups. Stay tuned for all the pre-match build-up before the 5pm (BST) kick-off.

“On first listening it didn’t strike me as the catchiest national anthem that I’ve heard, though I’m not completely au fait with all the world’s national anthems,” he wrote. “But then I listened to it a couple of times and it really started to grow on me. The music, all trumpets and strings, is quite rousing, quite full-on. Then I looked at the lyrics, and what strikes you is the crazy dichotomy of the very perky music, and these incredibly revolutionary lyrics. They use a poem that Mufdi Zakariah, a prisoner of French colonial forces in the 1950s, wrote in his own blood on the wall of his cell. It’s very powerful, very stirring. Even in translation there are some great lines – “we have taken the drum of gunpowder as our rhythm and the sound of machine guns as our melody”. It’s a very positive, very proud lyric, very much of its time. There’s no mention of any one person, or any specific leader – it’s a song to bind a people, and a nation. It’s unusual for an anthem to mention another country like France is mentioned here, which roots it to a particular period of their history. Maybe they don’t ever want to forget about the oppression, but I wonder if maybe in 100 years’ time someone might say, ‘We can forget about France now.’”

“I love the lyrics,” she wrote. “’Our heart and soul are dedicated to you. Our strength and the blood of our veins we offer.’ This is the kind of thing I want to hear from my next boyfriend. I also love the idea that it was originally written by some young people in a cafe. I’m a fan of epic crescendos so I’m glad that’s how the piece ends. If I was in charge of re-recording, I think I would add more swooping crescendos that don’t come down – they just keep getting bigger. All in all, I feel like I should be windswept and on my way to overcoming something emotionally difficult when I’m listening to this anthem. It sort of has a “be the bigger person” vibe. It feels sonically stoic, proud and dignified.”

Algeria tactics: “Coach Vahid Halilhodzic has the side well organised, but also committed to playing good attacking football, with plenty of movement amongst the front three, and a mobile, young and technically proficient midfield trio too,” wrote Michael Cox in his tournament preview on Zonal Marking. “Algeria are receiving less attention than the other four African sides in this competition, probably because of the lack of star names – but they’re actually the highest-ranked African side in the latest FIFA rankings.”

Belgium tactics: “There’s a glaring weakness in the Belgian first XI, in the full-back positions,” wrote Coxy in this ridiculously thorough examination of how they go about their business. “It’s amazing that they’ve managed to produce so many talented players in every other position – two goalkeepers at top-class European clubs, five renowned centre-backs, various combative central midfielders and a plethora of talented attackers – yet genuinely can’t find a single natural full-back.”

Belgium v Algeria – line-ups

Belgium: 1-Thibaut Courtois; 2-Toby Alderweireld, 4-Vincent Kompany, 5-Jan Vertonghen, 15-Daniel Van Buyten; 7-Kevin De Bruyne, 22-Nacer Chadli, 6-Axel Witsel, 19-Mousa Dembele; 10-Eden Hazard, 9-Romelu Lukaku

Algeria: 23-Rais Mbolhi; 2-Madjid Bougherra, 3-Faouzi Ghoulam, 5-Rafik Halliche, 12-Carl Medjani; 14-Nabil Bentaleb, 10-Sofiane Feghouli, 21-Riyad Mahrez, 22-Mehdi Mostefa, 19-Saphir Taider; 15-El Arabi Soudani

Referee: Marco Rodriguez (Mexico)

Earlier today, when I was manning our daily World Cup live blog, Algeria fan Henni Ouahes got in touch to talk up his team’s chances in this World Cup.

“We go in as underdogs but this is a young team filled with attacking talent,” he said. “We’re rocky at the back but we may cause an upset. It wouldn’t be the first time.”

Henni also pointed out that Algeria are on the verge of breaking an unwanted record. “We’re 36 minutes away from being the team with the longest stint without a goal at the World Cup,” he said. “The last one was scored by Djamel Zidane at the 1986 group stage against Northern Ireland. Key to our prospects of not breaking that record, or scoring at all, will be how decisive Sofiane Feghouli can be for us. He is a real talent, and the team is built around him.”

Source:The Guardian

Compiled by:M.D