England’s hopeful, pressure-free World Cup campaign continues, but tonight’s pivotal Group D clash with Uruguay and their pantomime villain will go a long way to colouring opinions of Roy Hodgson’s progress.
As always, we’d love to hear your thoughts on the game. E-mail Sean@thescore.ie, tweet @thescore_ie, post a message to our Facebook wall, or leave a comment below.
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Uruguay 2 England 1
Hello there football fans, be you of the casual fair-weather quadrennial type of the hardcore sort who can rhyme off the Costa Rica starting XI.
We’re edging close to the big game of the night and of England’s World Cup campaign as they take on Uruguay.
Both sides are pointless after opening round defeats, and need a win to revive their hope of reaching the knock-out stages.
Of course, the big team news is that Luis Suarez starts. Here are the teams in full. England are unchanged from the loss to Italy.
Uruguay: Muslera, Gimenez, Godin, Caceres, Pereira, Lodeiro, Gonzalez, Arevalo Rios, Rodriguez, Cavani, Suarez.
Subs: Munoz, Fucile, Gargano, Hernandez, Forlan, Stuani, Perez, Ramirez, Coates, Maxi Pereira, Silva.
England: Hart, Baines, Cahill, Jagielka, Johnson, Gerrard, Henderson, Sterling, Rooney, Welbeck, Sturridge.
Subs: Foster, Wilshere, Lampard, Smalling, Jones, Milner, Lambert, Lallana, Barkley, Shaw, Forster.
Referee: Carlos Velasco Carballo (Spain).
Although there are no personnel changes, Roy Hodgson has made it clear that Wayne Rooney will play a central role tonight after the coach was castigated for playing him on the left (where Alex Ferguson played him in tonnes of big games) against Italy.
Facepaint and the World Cup go together like Nutella and brown bread.
Though some are more unsettling than others.
As the teams emerge from their dressing rooms most of you in the comment section seem to be hoping for a victory for Uruguay over our beloved neighbours. Though those of you who have so far braved a prediction are calling this as an England win by the odd goal.
I’m gonna lay my cards on the table and call this as a 2 – 1 Uruguay win. When push comes to shove I don’t think they have the nous to figure out a way of winning a game they’re not comfortable in.
That said, England could just go into turbo mode early one and blow the South Americans away.
The lads in the RTE studio have certainly taking a liking to England. Does anyone else find it strange that Eamon Dunphy should have such strong positive feelings about Wayne Rooney?
This piece of unofficial match-day attire will never get old.
Right, the anthems are over and done with, that odd little arms-folding graphic that comes with the team-sheet has passed. It’s time for what we all came to see. FOOTBALL!
KICK-OFF: Uruguay get us under way.
2 mins: England have started well, a positive passage of passing play seemed to open up a shooting chance for Johnson, but he elected to play something more intricate.
From the throw England come through again, but the through ball to Sturridge is pounced on (eventually) by Muslera.
4 mins: A first glimpse of Suarez, he looks sharp, collecting a one-two on the by-line and forcing Joe Hart to concede a corner.
Suarez takes the corner himself, swings it near post and again Joe Hart is less than convincing; flapping at the ball as if it were a steaming hot kettle.
8 mins:Diego Godin is give a yellow card for handball as he connects with the Brazuca as Sturridge attempted to nick it past him.
Free kick to England right on the edge of the area….
OOOH! Rooney curls it from the D to within inches of the top corner. Muslera was rooted to the spot, hoping that it would zip past the post and it did.
We’re not sure if this is a touch of ambush marketing from the masterfully coiffured Glen Hoddle or if the shampoo people have just been successful, but here’s how he rates Joe Hart.
14 mins: A screamer of a shot from Rodriguez flashes over the bar. A Jagielka error led to the chance, but from the left edge of the area Rodriguez found plenty of power but just missed the target.
23 mins: We’re a quarter way through the game and it’s still a pretty even contest. That early England tempo wasn’t as high as I expected and an iffy Gary Cahill clearance just in front of his own penalty spot would suggest that Uruguay have more gears to get through before this game is out.
25 mins: A quick glance at my Twitter feed tells me that a lot of people can’t get over that Gerrard and Suarez are on different teams. They’re just tackling one another, lads, it happens.
Of much greater importance…
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28 mins: Couple of close shaves.
First, Cavani directed a Sheringham-style-short corner over the bar. Welbeck attacked at the other end, but quickly ran out of space.
Diego Godin though is playing with fire. Already on a yellow, the captain checked Sturridge on the right side of the area. Men have walked for less.
30 mins: OFF THE POST!
So close for England. Gerrard lofts in a free kick from near the corner flage and it’s met with a flying header, but it hits him just above the right ear and onto the apex of the goal frame.
Indeed he was.
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GOAL! Uruguay 1 England 0 (Suarez ‘ 38)
That is a seriously sexy goal.
Edinson Cavani takes a pass on the left side of the area (where Suarez popped up so often in the last World Cup) and chipped a cross that was begging to be headed in and Luis Suarez duly met it and directed his finish back into the left side of the goal and past Hart.
As I was saying… filthy!
HALF-TIME: Uruguay 1 England 0
It was a half that was quickly turning into a great big disappointment, but the star quality of Uruguay’s two world class players will force England’s hand.
They have no option now but to come out and attack.
England have shown promise, but their only real cutting edge is from set -pieces. Will they be left to rue Rooney’s missed chances?
The second half is on and Gooch Cooper is already laying in to Roy.
50 mins: Slight tech hitch there, hence the delay in posts, but we’re back up and / or running.
There’s been a moment of indecision, but mostly comedy in the England defence as Gary Cahill whacked a ball clear only to clatter it against his own player in the box. It didn’t come to anything, but we enjoyed it anyway.
51 mins: So close to a second for Uruguay. Cavani storming into the area on a through ball, but as he opens up his body to side-foot across Hart he fails to find the target.
Another smooth move to get him into the position though.
53 mins: CHANCE!
Sturrdidg pulls it back for Rooney. The Man united man takes a decent first touch, but his second is a swing with his left leg that ends up going straight at Muslera. The keeper can’t hold it, but Caceres manages to hold off Welbeck and clear after a short dribble towards the corner flag.
60 mins: Sterling goes down looking for a penalty. Nothing doing. And looking at the replay it would have been extremely harsh as Pereira took a heavy blow from the Liverpool man’s knee.
63 mins: Despite a couple of worrying moments when Pereira was motionless on the ground, he is back on the field after a very brief bit of treatment.
Concussion is no concern in football, apparently.
65 mins: That knee to the head was Sterling’s last act of the game. The bundle of excitement that is Ross Barkley has been thrust onto the big stage.
68 mins: Uruguay falling into the old trap of falling back to protect a slender lead. England just taking a bit of time to get up to speed, but as Rooney sprays a ball out to the wing he is chopped down.
Unfortunately for England the move comes to nothing as there are too many blue shirts in the box to let a low near post cross sneak through.
Football really is catching on in the US.
GOAL! Uruguay 1 England 1 ( Rooney ’75)
Wayne Rooney has his first World Cup goal and his handed England a World Cup lifeline after Glen Johnson dribbled into the area and crossed to find the striker.
78 mins: Ooh, Uruguay are creaking since conceding that goal, giving up chances for Sturridge, but the striker couldn’t make himself enough time to find a rout e past Muslera.
It was Rooney’s fourth chance of the night and he really couldn’t have missed it. That sounds harsh, but it’s not. Rooney has been England’s only really potent threat in this game and he now has nine minutes to help his nation take all three points.
GOAL! Uruguay 2 England 1 (Suarez ‘ 84 )
Oh my God! it’s an absolute Howitzer of a finish from Luis Suarez after running through into the box on the back of a misplaced header from… Stephen Gerrard.
It’s yet another World Cup assist for the opposition for Stevie G. How many before you start to call it anything but unlucky?
That finish: BOOM!
90 mins: There will be five added minutes. It’s the hope that hurts, but England can still keep their World Cup on life support.
One last chance for England. A corner.
94 mins: Hart came up for the corner, but a man in front of him rose and powered a header wide. They’ll be dancing in the streets of Edinburgh tonight.
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FULL TIME: Uruguay 2 England 1
Wow. That was an intense finish.
So much emotion overflowing in Sao Paulo after Luis Suarez, a man with so much pressure on his shoulders, came up with the goods and left England clinging to a minuscule hope.
Here’s how Group D looks as a result.
I’d just like to place on record that I TOLD YE ALL IT’D BE 2 – 1! Not that I expected that scoreline for more than 10 minutes of the game. On this occasion the stopped clock was bang on the money.
Thanks for joining in on the liveblog tonight, we’ll be bringing you updates from Japan and Greece a little later. So that’s obviously gonna be class.
Untill then, football fans.
