In an exciting Group D 2014 World Cup match played on 19 July, 2014 in San Paulo England was beaten 2 -1 by Uruguay. The two goals were scored by Luis Suarez (the talismanic striker) in the 39th minute and then 10 minutes from the end of the game. The second goal appeared to be punishment for England’s apparent botched offside trap. The only goal by England was by Wayne Rooney just 15 minutes from the final whistle. Poor defense strategy by England saw Luis Suarez getting numerous free runs which led to him scoring again in the 85th minute.
Luis Suarez: Picture by Irvin Mpofu
Since Suarez has played for the Barclays Bank Primer League in the United Kingdom for so many games now (where he has scored 31 goals this season), he knows the style of all the English players and this might have come in handy to his advantage. He has not fully recovered from a knee injury but as his fans say, “having a 70 or 80% fit Suarez in a game is just as good as wining It”. Before scoring the first goal Uruguay made a couple of over the bar strikes and it appears the England keeper was deceived by the height of the ball in the 39th minute because he did not stretch as necessary as was required to punch the ball off the goal mouth. Suarez now has a record of 41 international goals in 78 games which is very impressive.
Uruguay last beat a European team in international competitions in 1970 (that is against the then Soviet Union) so this is no mean achievement. England started the game with a couple of impressive forward runs but soon the defense appeared shaky and displayed very little cohesion. In fact the whole England team played too much of running football characterized by individualism, players wanting to do too much with the ball instead of passing the ball quickly. As a result young players like the 20 year old Sterling though full of energy failed to make a winning impression. In the second half England tried to pack in several heads of steam but failed to get the formula for the kill. The loss is against an amazing 62% balling (ball possession) by England. England lost the game in defense but also the strike force was made ineffective by a 2–V– 1 defense formation where two Uruguay players would confront the advancing England player making a V-shape with him and closing in thus narrowing the striker’s angle of shooting or dribbling past on either right or left side. Despite being thwarted by the same defensive formation in the first half England did nothing to change the scope, span and tempo of the game in the second half. England lost its first game in this 2014 World Cup against Italy in Group D (the group of death). History has it that since 1960 England has only won one (1) world cup match after conceding the first game.
England might be going home “after two defeats after 2” but for now it is still in the tournament mathematically depending on whether Costa Rica beat Italy on 20 June, 2104. The log table standing for Group D is such that England has zero points, while the rest (Italy, Uruguay and Coasta Rica) have 3 points each. Coasta Rica has a superior goal difference by one (1).
Uruguay goalkeeper was in superb form thwarting two potentially dangerous strikes by Wayne Rooney.
The referee handle the game very well. (Sport Reporter: Irvin Mpofu [IDT Feed Services International]:- 19 June, 2014)
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