Goals: Uruguay—Suarez 39’, 85'; England—Rooney 75'
Recap: A transcendent performance saw Uruguay capture a much-needed 2-1 victory over England on Thursday, awarding the team its first three points of the tournament.
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England missed the first clear-cut opportunity of the match in the 31st minute. Wayne Rooney’s smashing header rattled off the crossbar, leaving the 28-year-old momentarily scoreless in his World Cup career. Just eight minutes later, Luis Suarez showed him how it’s done. A menacing run past Phil Jagielka allowed the Liverpool striker to polish off a glancing header just before the half.
Rooney would redeem himself in the 75th minute, leveling the affair, but the footballing talents of Suarez was too much for England to handle. An emphatic match-winner in the dying minutes of the match kept Uruguay’s World Cup dreams alive.
Key Moment: Some people just weren't made to score on the world's biggest stage. Wayne Rooney was nearly one of them. Another clear-cut opportunity fell to his feet in the 55th minute. With all the time in the world to relive his past failures, Rooney did just that, sending a left-footed shot directly at the keeper. Fortunately, he was able to redeem himself moments later, but the opportunity to rewrite history was there.
Man of the Match: Two goals with the weight of a nation on your shoulders. Not a bad way to spend your Thursday afternoon, Luis Suarez.
Lesson Learned: Costa Rica was lucky Suarez didn’t feature in the group opener. The infusion of one footballing talent was enough to transform an uninspired Celeste into a World Cup contender. England wasn’t fortunate enough to catch the same break as Los Ticos, and neither will Italy. Uruguay is still more than capable of advancing past the group stage.
Up Next: Uruguay travels to Natal to meet with Italy on June 24, while England visits Belo Horizonte to face Costa Rica.
Note: Credit all statistics to officially licensed data from Opta Sports (via WhoScored).
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