Belgium and Egypt don settle for 1-1 for their World Cup opener for Seattle, inside stadium wey full to brim with 66,775 fans. The sun hot well-well, 30 degrees Celsius, and referee Ramon Abatti don already show two yellow cards early for both sides.
Egypt wey never win any World Cup match for history, come take lead for 19th minute. Emam Ashour, midfielder wey dey play for Al-Ahly, score im first international goal for im 30th appearance. Mohamed Salah wey dey celebrate im 34th birthday, pass ball well for Ashour, and the guy fire shot wey pass under Thomas Meunier leg and beat Thibaut Courtois for far post.
Belgium struggle for first half. Jérémy Doku dey face double team anytime ball reach am, and Leandro Trossard lose ball three times for opening 30 minutes. Egypt no just sit back; dem dey counter attack and hold possession for midfield with strong defense.
For 66th minute, Belgium coach Rudi Garcia bring Romelu Lukaku from bench. The man wey score record goals for Belgium no even touch ball well, but im presence alone cause panic. Thomas Meunier run down right side and cross, Lukaku slide for ball, but Egypt defender Mohamed Hany accidentally tap am into im own net. Equalizer come just 23 seconds after Lukaku enter field.
Lukaku wey play only 40 minutes for Napoli this season for Serie A, don show say im fit still cause trouble even from bench. Garcia talk say: ‘We dey go far with Romelu, so we must take am easy. First objective na to keep am healthy. If im play super sub role and score every time, e go sweet.’
Egypt don play four World Cups but never win any match. Belgium wey fail to pass group stage for 2022 Qatar World Cup, still no win any of last three matches for tournament. Both teams get plenty chances but no fit score again. Lukaku and Kevin De Bruyne miss some opportunities to take lead.
Group G don hot up with this draw, as both Belgium and Egypt dey expect to be frontrunners. Next matches go determine who go survive.
