World Cup 2014 – Scout Notes – Matchday 2, Day 6

Divock Origi climbs off the bench to fire Belgium into the knockout stages with a 1-0 win over Russia. Abdelmoumene Djabou and Islam Slimani produce a goal and assist apiece as Algeria net four times to defeat South Korea, while Portugal and USA play out a 2-2 draw in the final game of Matchday 2, with Clint Dempsey in the goals once again for Jurgen Klinsmann’s side:

Lukaku Toils Again as Belgium Progress
The Chelsea striker kept his place in the first XI despite failing to impress against Algeria in the opening match. Once again, however, he disappointed Fantasy owners with a poor display that saw him subbed off around the hour mark for the second match in succession and with replacement Divock Origi netting a late winner, there must be major question marks over Lukaku’s starting role for the upcoming clash against South Korea.

Kevin de Bruyne owners will also be a little disconcerted by a move to central midfield. Marc Wilmots made three changes from the win over Algeria by dropping Jan Vertonghen, Nacer Chadli and Mousa Dembele for Thomas Vermaelen, Marouane Fellaini and Dries Mertens and the latter’s installation on the right forced de Bruyne into a deeper role – he subsequently failed to register a single attempt on goal. Eden Hazard, however, served up an assist for the second match in a row after his trickery on the right teed up Origi to fire the only goal of a disappointing game.

Capello’s Troops Fail to Deliver
After managing just a draw in the opener with South Korea, Fabio Capello made a couple of changes, replacing Andrei Eschenko with Alexei Kozlov at right-back and bringing in Maksim Kanunnikov for Yuri Zhirkov on the left of the front three. Again, Russia were poor in the final third and offered very little threat to Thibaut Courtois between the Belgian posts – a total of three efforts on target underline their lack of threat, though it could have been very different had Alexander Kokorin converted a free header in the first period. Capello’s side clearly lack the drive offered by injured Roman Shirokov from the centre of the park and yesterday’s showing failed to bring any of their assets onto our radars.

In the FIFA McDonald’s game, Vincent Kompany’s eight recovered balls was top for the Belgians, with Daniel van Buyten and Fellaini both registering six apiece. For Russia, Sergei Ignashevich (eight), Maksim Kanunnikov (six), Denis Glushakov and Vasily Berezutski (five) were the most impressive performers.

Algeria Serve Up the Goals
Vahid Halilhodzic’s decision to ring the changes for last night’s match paid off in style as Algeria hit four past South Korea. After narrowly losing their opener to Belgium, full-backs Mehdi Mostefa and Faouzi Ghoulam were replaced by Aissa Mandi and Djamel Mesbah, while further up the pitch, Saphir Taider, Riyad Mahrez and El Arabi Soudani made way for Abdelmoumene Djabou, Yacine Brahimi and Islam Slimani. The latter three all vindicated their manager’s decision by grabbing a goal apiece, with lone striker Slimani and left winger Djabou also earning an assist, while Fabianne Feghouli added an assist to his goal against Belgium last time round. With their front four in such fine form, hopes will be high for the final group game against the Russians and with Capello’s side needing a win, Algeria will fancy their chances on the counter after last night’s sparkling performance.

Too Little, Too Late for Korea
Hong Myung-bo will be contemplating alterations after his side were deservedly defeated. Unchanged from the opener against Russia, the Koreans were 3-0 down before finding their form and notched a couple of consolations through two of their attacking midfield three, with Bayer Leverkusen’s highly-rated Son Heung-min and Koo Ja-cheol both finding the net. A win against Belgium in the final match could yet see them through but bearing in mind they managed just eight efforts yesterday, South Korea look set to struggle against a backline that has conceded just one converted spot-kick thus far, with Fantasy owners likely to see Matchday 3 alternatives.

In the FIFA McDonald’s game, right-back Lee Yong produced 10 recovered balls, while centre-halves Hong Jeong-ho (seven) and Kim Young-gwon (six) were next in line for South Korean. Algeria’s top performers were Rafik Halliche and Djabou, with seven and four respectively.

Dempsey Nets Again for USA
The former Fulham man was amongst the goals for the second game in succession last night. Jurgen Klinsmann made one enforced change for the clash against Portugal, as the injured Jozy Altidore was replaced by Graham Zusi in a reshuffle that saw Dempsey fielded as a lone forward in a 4-2-3-1. The switch almost paid off as Klinsmann’s side were denied another win by a very late leveller but ahead of a final game against Germany, Klinsmann will be quietly confident – aside from Dempsey, Jermaine Jones added a goal to his Matchday 1 assist and with Zusi supplying an assist last night, the USA aren’t short of form players for those eyeing up a punt.

Portugal Salvage Late, Late Draw
With only seconds of injury time remaining, Paulo Bento’s side were starting elimination in the face until a last-gasp equaliser from Silvestre Varela kept them in the competition. With Pepe suspended and Miguel Veloso injured, the Portugal boss drafted in Ricardo Costa and Andre Almeida at the back, while Helder Postiga came in for Hugo Almeida up front in the only other alteration to the side that lost 4-0 to Germany. United’s Nani opened the scoring for the Portuguese to reward his investors but Cristiano Ronaldo is certainly testing his owners’ patience after picking up just an assist yesterday. An armband option for many against Klinsmann’s side, he fired seven efforts without success but with a vital clash against Ghana still to follow, many will now hold as a result of Varela’s strike – Bento’s side need to win to stand a chance of going through and there’d be no surprise if the Real Madrid man kept his best till last.

In the FIFA McDonald’s game, Matt Besler produced 11 recovered balls for the USA. Fellow defenders DeMarcus Beasley and Geoff Cameron managed six apiece, as did central midfielder and Kyle Beckerman. For Portugal, Bruno Alves lead the way with eight, while Ricardo Costa and Nani also stood out, chipping in with five apiece.