The second of three friendly games the Belgian Red Devils play before heading off to Russia. Yesterday's opponents were Egypt. Everyone was hoping for a more inspiring performance of the team after the goalless draw against Portugal. Only two changes in the team that played that game: Witsel took his place in the midfield next to the De Bruyne, and Ciman- number 24 in the selection- played instead of the still injured Kompany. So just like against Portugal, Martinez set up his strongest team available. Egypt played without their main man Mo Salah, who is spared for the opening match against Uruguay.
The strategy of Egypt was clear right from the start: sit deep, defend and make a foul if necessary. Two yellow cards within the first 7 minutes, you don't see that too often in a friendly game. That meant the Red Devils controlled the start of the game like they did against Portugal. Hazard was again the leader on the pitch, involved in every good action of Belgium. Best chances in the first 20 minutes fell for Mertens- whose shot got saved by the goalkeeper- and Lukaku, who got the opening goal offered on a plate by Mertens but still managed to miss just a few meters from goal. Egypt tried to threaten from time to time, but seemed to lack the quality upfront to really bother Courtois. Although there was a little scare when striker Mohsen had a free heading chance, but he luckily couldn't find the target.
But if there was one team that was going to score, it was Belgium and if one man was going to provide it, it was Hazard. Around the half hour mark, Hazard dribbled himself free around the box. His shot was saved by the goalkeeper but Lukaku was in the right place for the rebound. A goal that will give Lukaku some confidence, because he hasn't been in his best form so far in the preparation games. It must been said that the 45-year old goalkeeper El-Hadary was to blame for the opening goal, because the shot from Hazard was stoppable. The captain himself got the second goal right before the break. Carrasco pushed himself through on the left wing- with the help of poor defending by the Egyptian right-back Fathy- and cut the ball back to Hazard, who was in the right place to finish. Belgium led 2-0 by the break, you could also say Hazard was leading with 2-0.
Just like against Portugal, Martinez made 4 substitutions at the break. The substitutions were quite similar as well: Fellaini, Chadli and Januzaj came on, Mertens and Lukaku were rested. Differences were that Hazard was left out in the second half and Batshuayi replaced Lukaku to get his first minutes since his injury. The substitution of Hazard had a negative impact on the quality on the second half. The drive and enthusiasm that Belgium showed in the first half were gone. With a scoreline of 2-0, there wasn't much need either to go full-on. The substitution of Trezeguet gave Egypt a new spark, but they couldn't take the chances Belgium offered to get themselves back in the game. Best chance felt for Sobhi, but he needed to much time and wasted it. Egypt will clearly need their big man, because the
rest of the team is rather average. My prediction of them progressing to the second round looks optimistic after this match, but I will still stand by it (for now).
The second half continued without too much tension, until a final moment of brilliance by Batshuayi. The striker, with I think was his first good touch of the game, dribbled through the defense and offered Fellaini a tap-in to make it 3-0. All in all, a comfortable victory in what was never a true contest. The conclusion is however that we are still dependent on the individual brilliance of players like Hazard. No one, not even De Bruyne, was able to take over from him in the second half, which made the level of play decline. But a win is a win and this should give the players (and maybe the fans as well) a new boost of confidence. One more training match left against Costa Rica on Monday, and then the players should be ready for the real deal.