Belgium, a trendy pick and considered a dark horse by many to make it far into the knockout stages, started out in a 4-2-3-1 formation while Algeria, seeking their first win at the World Cup Finals since 1982, came out in same formation. Although Belgium dominated possession during the first half, they could not get one of their 8 shots past goalkeeper Rais M’Bohli. Axel Witsel hit a missile toward the Algerian goal in the 21st minute but Rais M’Bolhi was able to punch it away.

In the 39th minute, Belgium took a free kick where Kevin DeBruyne rolled the ball to Jan Vertonghen who missed high and wide left. In the 44th minute, Eden Hazard made a good pass to Nacer Chadli in the box but Chadli did not get a good enough handle on the ball and the shot was easily saved by Rais.

Algeria, meanwhile, was able to make their best opportunity in the first half count. In the 24th minute, Jan Vertonghen committed a sloppy tackle against Sofiane Feghouli after Faouzi Ghoulam crossed in a great ball. As Thibaut Courtois dove to his right, Feghouli slipped the spot kick past Courtois in the opposite direction. This was Algeria’s first World Cup goal since 1986 in Mexico.

Like USA-Ghana yesterday, Belgium kept pressing, looking for that equalizer in the second half. They would find that equalizer in the 70th minute when Marouane Fellaini tied up the score at 1-1 from a Kevin DeBruyne cross. Fellaini has his back to the goal when he put his head on the ball. Fellaini had been on the pitch no more than five minutes as he came on for Mousa Dembele in the 65th minute. Dries Mertens put The Red Devils on top in the 80th minute. Belgium was on the fast break with Eden Hazard taking the ball down the left flank. Hazard found Mertens streaking down the right side of the pitch unmarked and Mertens put the ball in the back of the net with a hard right footed kick. Belgium was able to hold on and win 2-1 in Belo Horizonte.

Algeria only had 3 shots the whole match and one of those shots was on-target. Belgium had ball possession for 65% of the match and had 16 shots with 10 of them being on-target. Algeria put up a great fight but The Red Devils were too much to handle. Algeria will play South Korea next while Belgium will play Russia at the Maracana in Rio on Sunday.

Jozy Altidore has capped off an amazing season for club and country by transferring to Sunderland. This will be Jozy’s second go-around in the Premier League after his non-successful loan spell with Hull City during the 2009-10 season. Altidore, coming off a 23 goal season for AZ Alkmaar in the Dutch Eredivisie, is going to a team that scored only 41 goals and finished one place away from relegation.

Many Americans from Brad Friedel, John Harkes and Claudio Reyna to Tim Howard, Brad Guzan and Clint Dempsey have played in the Premier League. However, with Altidore now coming back on board in England, casual American Soccer fans will have more reasons to stay in their pajamas on Saturday morning to watch Premier League soccer.

The best American outfield player who has played in the Premier League up to this point would arguably be Clint Dempsey. After his 16 goal campaign for Fulham in 2011-12, Dempsey asked to be transferred to a Champions League contender. This dragged out the entire summe resulting in him not showing up for pre-season training and missing the first two fixtures for Fulham. He got his wish at the end of the summer transfer window and moved across London to Tottenham Hotspur. While he did show flashes of greatness, scoring the game-winning goal at Old Trafford and scoring the game-tying goal in the snow against Manchester United at White Hart Lane, Dempsey was not the same player he was at Fulham the season before.

With NBC Sports gearing up for their first year of a three-year $250 million contract, the Peacock is putting their all into this upcoming season of the Premier League. NBC now has a new American face to help build their audience for the casual American Soccer fan. With Sunderland presumably playing many of their games at 10am ET on Saturdays instead of Sundays, soccer fans will want to be sure they have access to NBC Sports Live Extra and/or Premier League Extra Time via their TV provider.

Altidore, whether he wants it or not, will have an impact on future Americans playing in the Premier League. He’s the first American striker to play in the Premier League since Eddie Johnson last played for Fulham in 2010-11. If Jozy can become the man at Sunderland, just like Dempsey was the man at Fulham two seasons ago, Americans will find ways to watch Sunderland.