Spain, Belgium an Uruguay were given rude awakenings in their opening group matches at the FIFA World Cup.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Spain’s ghosts of recent FIFA World Cup horror shows reappeared in Atlanta as the European champions were held 0-0 by debutants Cape Verde in their Group H opener.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Lamine Yamal was left on the bench as the Barcelona superstar is eased back to fitness after nearly two months out with a hamstring injury and even his appearance as a second-half substitute failed to break down Cape Verde’s dogged defence.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Since winning the World Cup for the first time in 2010, Spain have not won a knockout game and their inability to make dominance of possession count was reminiscent of their meek exits in 2018 and 2022.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Blessed with what coach Luis de la Fuente claimed is the best squad in the competition, Spain were considered among the pre-tournament favourites to go all the way and lift the World Cup on July 19.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But the importance of Yamal and Nico Williams to their chances of success was underlined by a flat performance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Williams also had an injury-disrupted season at Athletic Bilbao and was not introduced until the 87th minute.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Ranked 67 in the world, Cape Verde were making their debut on the global stage and did a nation of just over 500,000 people proud.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In stark contrast to the searing temperatures faced by some other sides, Atlanta’s state-of-the-art air conditioned stadium meant there was no excuses for the slow tempo of Spain’s build-up.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Indeed the mid-half hydration break was met by boos with fans frustrated at the break in play despite the cool conditions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It took until six minutes before half-time for Spain to seriously threaten.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Marc Cucurella, fresh for sealing his move from Chelsea to Real Madrid, sent over a teasing cross that Ferran Torres turned onto the crossbar and Cape Verde goalkeeper Vozinha got back on his feet to turn Mikel Oyarzabal’s looping header over the bar.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Torres tested Vozinho again moments later before Aymeric Laporte’s header from a corner was also clawed away by the Cape Verde number one just before half-time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The break came at a good time for the Blue Sharks and they comfortably held out in the second period until Yamal’s entrance after the second hydration break.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Billed as one of the stars of the tournament, Yamal’s appearance instantly lifted the crowd and injected life into the pedestrian Spanish attack.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
His first involvement set up a decent opening for fellow substitute Mikel Merino which was too close to Vozinha.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Yamal also began the move that saw Oyarzabal’s effort deflected over with Spain’s best chance of the second half.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Cape Verde nearly snatched a famous victory in the final minute of the 90 when Dani Borges planted a header too close to Unai Simon.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Spain’s road to victory in 2010 also began disappointingly with defeat to Switzerland, but they have much to work on ahead of facing Saudi Arabia in Atlanta once more on Sunday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Cape Verde next take on Uruguay in Miami.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Saudi Arabia displayed immense defensive resilience to hold Uruguay to a 1-1 draw in their Group H encounter. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Goalkeeper Mohammed Al Owais produced an outstanding performance as three-time AFC Asian Cup winners Saudi Arabia absorbed intense pressure in the second half to deny the South American side full points and leave the group wide open following Spain’s goalless draw with Cape Verde in their match.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Defender Abdulelah al-Amri gave the Saudis a surprise lead near the end of the first half only for Uruguay’s second-half pressure to pay off with 10 minutes left through Maxi Araujo.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Marcelo Bielsa’s side though had the first chance of the game when Araujo stung the palms of Al Owais after five minutes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In evening temperatures of more than 30C and energy-sapping humidity, both teams struggled to create much in front of goal early on.Just after the half-hour mark the Saudi stopper was called into action again to parry away a diving header from close range by Federico Vinas.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Saudis, who stunned eventual champions Argentina 2-1 to start their campaign at the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022, looked to hit their opponents on the break.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
They had their first real opportunity shortly before half-time when Amri forced Fernando Muslera to palm away his fizzing shot.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Four minutes before the break the defender did score, reacting fastest to poke home from close range after Muslera spilled a header from a corner.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
After a toothless first period, Bielsa had seen enough, dragging off defender Matias Vina and anonymous former Liverpool striker Darwin Nunez.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Winger Agustin Canobbio and left-sided Juan Manuel Sanabria were introduced.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The double substitution sparked Uruguay – who surprisingly did not play a single FIFA World Cup warm-up game – into action in the second half.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Saudi coach Georgios Donis, brought in just two months before the tournament, saw his team retreat farther and farther back.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
On the hour Manchester United midfielder Manuel Ugarte pinged the ball against the foot of the Saudi post from well outside the box.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The pressure finally told late on when Al Owais failed to cleanly hold the ball in the 80th minute and Araujo gobbled up the rebound.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
There looked to be only one winner after that, but Al Owais pulled off a diving finger-tip save in the sixth minute of added time to deny Brian Rodriguez to salvage a point for Saudi Arabia.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Belgium and Egypt drew 1-1 in their FIFA World Cup Group G opener after a second-half Belgian equaliser spoiled Mohamed Salah’s 34th birthday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Emam Ashour opened the scoring early in the first half in Seattle, before Romelu Lukaku came off the bench after the hour to force Egypt’s Mohamed Hany into an own goal.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
With the draw, seven-time Africa Cup of Nations champions Egypt’s wait for a first victory at a World Cup goes on.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
With all eyes in the Pacific Northwest on Salah and Kevin De Bruyne, it was the ex-Manchester City playmaker that created the first moment of note in the match when he dragged a sharp effort narrowly wide in the seventh minute.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
However, it was Ashour who upstaged the pair just before the hydration break when he received the ball in a similar position to De Bruyne but his sweetly-struck effort left Thibaut Courtois no chance as it whistled into the bottom-right corner.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It was just the second time in their history that Egypt had taken the lead in a World Cup match \u2013 after Salah opened the scoring in a 2-1 defeat to Saudi Arabia in 2018.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
De Bruyne came within inches of levelling early in the second period when he whipped a close-range free-kick over the Egyptian wall, only to see it rocket off the outside of the post.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Salah responded at the other end as he ghosted into the box but had his downward header punched away by Courtois with Ashour getting his follow-up effort all wrong.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The match became stretched as both sides came close on a couple of occasions, including a screaming left-footed volley by Belgian captain Youri Tielemans.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
With 65 minutes gone, Rudi Garcia decided to send on Lukaku.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The change immediately paid dividends as Belgium’s all-time top goalscorer showed his predatory instincts to dash in on a Thomas Meunier cross, with his presence enough to destabilize Hany who put through his own net.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\\Salah departed the field with 15 minutes remaining as Egypt sought to shut up shop and ultimately held out for a point.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
This is their fourth participation in the global showpiece and with Group G fixtures to come against Iran and New Zealand, they will hope to break that hoodoo in North America.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
For Belgium, this tournament is likely the last chance for the remnants of their golden generation to better their third-placed finish in Russia eight years ago and finally win silverware.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Veterans De Bruyne, Courtois and Lukaku are the main protagonists of that group still involved in Rudi Garcia’s squad.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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