Lukaku's introduction earns Belgium 1-1 draw with Egypt

(Corrects to Ahmed Mostafa "Zizo", not Mostafa Zico, in paragraph 18)

By Sam Tobin

SEATTLE, June 15 : Belgium came from behind to draw 1-1 with Egypt in their World Cup opener on Monday, with the second-half introduction of record goalscorer Romelu Lukaku forcing the own goal which salvaged a point for his side.

Egypt opened the scoring against the run of play on 19 minutes through a powerful strike by midfielder Emam Ashour for his first international goal.

Belgium spurned several chances to equalise, Jeremy Doku slicing horribly wide just before the break and Kevin De Bruyne rattling the post from a free kick as Egypt's hopes grew of a first World Cup win at their fourth finals.

But Lukaku, who endured an injury-ravaged season at Italian side Napoli, came on in the 66th minute and some 20 seconds later Belgium were level, with the unfortunate Mohamed Hany turning a dangerous cross into his own net.

Either side could have won it late on as Egypt were not content to settle for a point, and Lukaku missed a golden opportunity to head the winner with two minutes of regular time remaining.

Belgium coach Rudi Garcia hailed Lukaku's instant impact and remained positive, though the draw gives Sunday's clash against Iran in Los Angeles greater significance.

"We're still in the competition, foot in the door, but now obviously we have to win against Iran," he said.

The other two teams in Group G, Iran and New Zealand, meet in Los Angeles later on Monday.

Egypt coach Hossam Hassan saw progress in his side's performance against a strong team, saying he thought they were the more likely to snatch victory.

"We were the ones who scored the opening goal, and they equalised," he said. "I believe we were closer to winning — we really were. The