'We are well prepared': Belgium's Mechele optimistic after 'neutralising' Salah and Marmoush

Belgium fell behind after leaving Eman Ashour unmarked in the 20th minute and trailed Egypt until midway through the second half.

Belgian defender Brandon Mechele told reporters in Seattle that Belgium were asking for trouble by the way they approached the first half, but that it was not discouraging for the World Cup hopefuls.

"I would not say we are disillusioned. We were too easy on them in the duels in the first half; we lost too many of those," Mechele said.

"We were careless with the ball, which meant we could not control the tempo. There was more fire in the team in the second half; we were more aggressive and played at a higher pace."

The fact that it was the tournament opener did not help the team, Mechele claimed: "You never know what happens in the first game. Perhaps it was a bit of nerves, I do not know. We made it right, though it is a shame we did not get the three points. I think we deserved the three points based on our second-half performance."

Neutralising Salah and Marmoush

Mechele, who plays for Club Brugge in the Belgian Pro League, played just his tenth game for the Red Devils, but came close to scoring his first goal in red with two late chances, including a header that forced an excellent save from Mostafa Shobeir. It was not to be for the 33-year-old.

"We still have more games to go, and I keep getting closer to that goal, so it will come. I headed it too softly, I think. If only I could have put more power behind it, but it was a difficult ball to head well. We did our best, we created a lot of big chances in the second half, but unfortunately, we did not score that second goal."

Mechele formed a centre-back pairing with Lille defender Nathan Ngoy, with whom Mechele paired up for just the fourth time in their young Belgium careers. Despite the novelty of the partnership, Mechele was pleased with Ngoy, with whom he kept Egypt stars Omar Marmoush and Mohamed Salah to a total of one shot on target.

"It was really good working with Nathan (Ngoy) and to work with him against Salah and Marmoush; they were little to not involved in Egypt's game. We were well prepared, especially in the second half; the whole team was well prepared defensively."