When Marouane Fellaini was thrown into the fire to try and save Belgium against Algeria on Tuesday, most Manchester United fans would have begun smirking.
After all, this is the same Fellaini who was signed for an eye watering £27.5 million (Dh171.2m) last August yet failed to score a single goal in the club’s famous red shirt.
The same 26 year-old who looked like a man lost as the David Moyes era crumbled around his ears.
But at the end of an emphatic, game-changing 30-minute cameo here in Belo Horizonte, many of the snipers would have been singing a different tune. A brilliant equalising goal capped a performance which energised a Belgian side who were bereft of ideas and lacking zip.
So what changed? Well, for a start Fellaini was pushed into an advanced midfield position by manager Marc Wilmots, at times pushing so far forward he was operating as a second striker alongside fellow impact sub Divock Origi.
Under Moyes, a man who knew him well from their time at Everton but curiously was unable to play him in his correct position, he sat deep in front of the back four and was asked to shield.
That though is simply not his game and Tottenham defender Jan Vertonghen admits being puzzled at the way Fellaini was used at Old Trafford.
He said: “I know there has been a lot of pressure on him from the fans in England but in Belgium he always does well and scores goals. I’m very pleased for him and I gave him a hug after the game because I know that goal meant a lot to him.
“Marouane is a very cool guy. The pressure doesn’t really bother him too much. We know how to use him and I don’t know whether they do in his other team.”
Captain Vincent Kompany echoed Vertonghen’s thoughts and urged people to allow Fellaini time to show he is anything but an expensive flop , a sign of what went so badly wrong under Moyes.
“Fellaini is a terrific player and any player in his first season at a new club, it can be tough,” he stressed.
“You have to grant players a couple of seasons before you can judge someone. For us, with Belgium, he has been doing it time and time again.”
With Fellaini now pushing for a start against Russia on Sunday in Rio, Belgium will surely be rid of the nerves which flooded through their ranks in Belo Horizonte which played their part in Algeria stealing ahead with a 1-0 lead before that fightback was initiated.
“It was the very very first minutes of any World Cup ever for this generation of Belgian players, all of the players except for Daniel Van Buyten have never been at a World Cup,” added Kompany.
“Of course for those first 15 minutes, however much experience you have in wider football – I remember even Lionel Messi saying how he had felt the pressure when he first played at a World Cup – so how is it possible for us not to feel it?
“We never panicked, we stayed calm. It means a lot that we overcame a difficult start but as much as it means, we remain calm for the rest of the campaign as well, we know it will be tough against Russia – the biggest mistake we can do is underestimate these teams.”
