The second round of Group H matches kicks off on Sunday with Belgium and Russia, who will be out for a little revenge after Belgium manager Marc Wilmots ended their last World Cup trip in 2002 with the last international goal of his playing career. Now, he is in charge of a team that many feel can make some noise and even though they got off to a cold start, Belgium eventually came through with a win. Meanwhile, Russia overcame a blunder by their keeper to take a point from their opener to stay alive in the group.
World Cup Odds: +105, Russia +280, Draw +240
Why Belgium Can Win
Wilmots threw on Marouane Fellaini and Dries Mertens in the second half of their 2-1 win over Algeria, and their insertion made all the difference. The Algerians couldn’t deal with Fellaini’s height and he scored with his head, then Mertens broke out with Eden Hazard, who found him for the match-winner to ease some of the pressure on a side that so many people picked as a World Cup darkhorse, they may have bought into their own hype. They now know what it takes to win a World Cup game.
Belgium still has to improve at the back as the penalty they allowed after 25 minutes should have been avoided, because Russia can hurt them.
Why Russia Can Win
The Russians also have a manager that knows what he is doing in Fabio Capello, who put on Alan Dzagoev and Alexander Kerzhakov in the second half and they combined for the equalizer scored by Kerzhakov in a 1-1 draw with South Korea. Truth be told, Russia labored for much of the match and didn’t really spring to life until they had to, when keeper Igor Akinfeev dropped an easy shot from long range into the net. But Capello kept his team calm and they still have every chance to get to the next round.
Now, will Capello drop Akinfeev, who was considered Russia’s strongest player coming into the tournament? He did drop Robert Green when he was with England for a terrible mistake, but you have to believe Akinfeev will keep his spot between the sticks and besides, he is much better than Green ever was. If anything, Akinfeev could be inspired to have the game of his life on Sunday.
Outlook
This will be the fourth meeting for these two countries, and Belgium has won two and drawn one of the previous three. There is the World Cup match (also a Group H match) from 2002 that will inspire memories from Wilmots on the Belgian side and Kerzhakov, who came on in that match as a late Russian sub. However, they have to focus on the present and this will be a fiercely contest match from start to finish. Even though Belgium is the more talented side, Russia has the resolve to get a point and have a shot going into their finale against Algeria.
Pick: Draw
