India, June 16 -- The Egyptian King has found a supporting cast to carry the burden of expectation and performance with him.

All too often this season, Mohamed Salah has seemed off the pace. From a menace on the wing to warming the bench, his age has shown in his game over the past twelve months. He's produced moments of magic, but they've been more infrequent as the games piled on.

Facing Belgium in Egypt's FIFA World Cup opener, on the occasion of his 34th birthday, he rolled back the years.

In a moment of beautiful technique and elegance, he threaded a perfect throughball for Emam Ashour to open the scoring in the 19th-minute. In doing so, he became the second-oldest African player to register an assist at the World Cup since 1966, ...