Belgium V Algeria World Cup 2014

Belgium V Algeria Fifa World Cup 2014

After match synopsis in red!!

Lets get some winners today

Pregame bets:

Belgium to score in both halves 11/10
Belgium win race to 5 corners 4/9
over 2.5 goals 8/11
Belgium 3-0 17/2

Good on you Belgium, got there in the end for me. Didn’t look like it from the first half showing but the class shone out in the second half. Race to 5 corners came out dead easy.

Full betting review here>http://thisdrinkinglife.com/top-bets-world-cup/

Beers: Group H of Beer World Cup: http://thisdrinkinglife.com/world-cup-beer-group-g/

Who is set to win the battle of the beers? Stella Artois V ? Unfortunately I couldn’t source any beer from Algeria so this will be a one sided affair. Click on picture for a preview of the beer. Get the Stella Artois review afterwards.

Stella Artois won by default, as could not source a beer from Algeria. Read here for full beer report

PreGame:

Belgium, everyone’s favourite dark horse for the world cup and the fifth favourites for this years world cup. This team have eventually qualified for a major championships, topping their qualification group in emphatic fashion. We have waited a long time for Belgium to show us exactly what they are all about.

And not only have they qualified in style, they have also got a very decent draw. They really should have few problems coming out of Group H, and I expect them to top the group with little fuss. I think it’s well within their ability to get 3 wins out of 3; against Russia, Korea and Algeria. I fear that they might give Algeria a spanking in this first game. Its also worth knowing that are unbeaten in their previous two world cup group stages, albeit with few victories either.

As for the team, Vincent Kompany is a captain that leads by example who must be on a high after Man City’s last day EPL Championship win. Eden Hazard is another player that stands out in this team. He is one of the big expectations in this years world cup. Can he live up to this reputation. Against Algeria and Korea he should really show the world whats all the hype about.

Key player for me is Romelu Lukaku, the Everton striker, who was scoring regularly at the end of the EPL season, chipping in for a total of 15 goals out of 31 games. Not a bad record for the EPL. If he is getting the goals then Belgium should get top spot no bother.

Algeria: Was pleasantly surprised with Algeria in the last world cup. Apart from the first game, they ended up playing some decent football and gave England the fright of their lives and could have sent them home if only they had put away all the chances they got. Therein lies their problem, they are a well defensive unit that doesn’t give away too many cheap goals, but they also struggle to score. Algeria havent won in their last five world cup matches, a key stat when analysing this game.

The Key player for me is Madjid Bougherra, the captain of the team. He is a pretty intimidating central defender and is expert at lining up his defence. With him in charge on the pitch I would be always fairly confident if I was an Algerian fan. He is the talisman of the team and a player I do enjoy watching.

Sofiane Feghouli is another player who catches the eye. He has had a great season with Valencia this year, and his speed and crossing ability can cause all sorts of problems for defences. But who will meet these crosses? I don’t think Algeria have the firepower to progress and that is why the Desert Foxes will be going home after the first round.

Blegium to win, and win comfortably, with Lukaku, to shine today.

A more detailed review on Belgium here and on Algeria here

Belgium were very laboured at times and struggled to do anything of note in the first half. It took them until the 43rd minute for their first real chance of the game.

No 6 for Belgium, Witsel was pretty rubbish, he really shouldnt have such a big head of hair as his woeful performances are even easier to spot. Lukaku wasnt up to much either, pretty disappointing, looked off the pace, but credit to the Belgian manager Wilmots for taking him off early on in the second half.

Wonder how old the Belgian player De Bruyne is? Under the wilting sun the blonde haired midfielder was burning up real bad. He looked about 16, but carried the team for a long time. Where was Hazard? There was a £35.3 million player on the pitch, did you notice?

Belgium have a good team, and in the second half they played a little better. Were much better going forward than defending. But they have no real leader on the pitch, no one to take the game by the scruff of the neck and drag them to victory. Remember this was Algeria not Argentina or an Italy. Will be very interesting to see how they do against the team who will ask more questions of their somewhat dodgy looking defence.

Algeria, on the other hand, had as expected a rock solid defence which was well marshaled by Bougherra. They closed off the channels cutting off any supply for the Belgian forwards.

It was a definite penalty, a good call from the ref, and put away nicely by Sofiane Feghouli, who, apart from the goal, disappointed.

Fellaini won it for Belgium in the end with a cracking headed goal, and he also showed glimpses of the form that had taken him to United.

Nesxt up for Belgium is Russia. Actually this might be an even easier game to play than against Algeria. For a start the Russian defence wont be as solid, and they have a tendency to drop the heads when enforced pressure is put on them. Would be surprised if Belgium didn’t score at least two goals in that game.

Algeria have a very interesting tie with Korea in their next game. If they continue to play it tight, and break well and try and bring Feghouli more into the game, I can see them getting a win. The Russian Korean tied game really has given Algeria a great chance of getting out of this group. Still very much to play for.