For just over half of Egypt’s opening match against Belgium, it looked as though the Pharaohs had done enough for a famous first World Cup win. And then Rudi Garcia went to his bench and brought on the player Belgium have long relied on in thorny situations.
“Frankly, when you are the opponent and you see Romelu Lukaku entering the field, your confidence goes down and your anxiety increases,” Garcia said after the draw. While Lukaku himself did not score, his threat drew two defenders on to his first run into the box, which resulted in an equalising own goal to salvage a point from a closely fought contest.