Costa Rica Defeats Uruguay 3-1

The first match of the Group of Death saw Uruguay meet Costa Rica at Fortaleza and one of the top strikers in the World currently, Luis Suarez was unable to start due to his slow recovery from a knee injury. A must win for Uruguay, to keep ahead of England and Italy, and playing under “home” conditions, a lot of pressure was on them. The focal point of the match was on Edison Cavani to make up for the absence of Suarez. This was expected to be an easy win for the South American Champions, but things did not turn out as expected.

First Half: 1 – 0

The first half saw a strong start from the South Americans who started with an attacking game and even netted the ball in the 15’ but was called offside. Clever play from the South Americans saw them win a penalty in the 22’ and Cavani stepped up to score in the 24’. At this point, although not very convincing, Uruguay seemed set to go top of the group. Hard defending and cutting the ball in the midfield meant that Uruguay did not give the ball away easily. Costa Rica, through all their struggle, saw some life in their attack when they hit the side net in the 31’. Uruguay tried to keep Cavani as the focus of play, but their passing was not up to the mark. Even then, the spectator thought that it would be enough to edge past Costa Rica. Some life was brought into the opponents as Gonzales almost scored through a corner for Costa Rica in the 43’. Another deflected shot from Diego Forlan was just about saved by Navas, to keep the scoreline the same.  Thus the first pass epitomized scrappy play from both sides, with Uruguay slightly better on the ball.

Second Half: 0 – 3

Costa Rica came back a new team, trying to find fluency in passing and forcing fouls from Uruguay. Continuous pushing upfield saw a Yellow earned by Diego Lugano in the 50’ while trying to break the attack. Perseverance from the losing side however, paid off and Campbell scored from a cross in 54’, a goal showing what beautiful team work can achieve against a mightier opponent. Not stopping here, a quick second was scored by Costa Rica from a free kick taken by Christian Balonos and headed by Oscar Durante in the 57’. 2-1 to Costa Rica and a double sub for Uruguay was forced, with Alvaro Gonzalez and Nicolas Lodeiro on. However, the underdogs still kept pressing and made it difficult for Uruguay to get ahead. Costa Rica were still seeing more of the ball and attacking. The 63’ saw Uruguay finding some footing and attacking, but taking advantage of more players committed upfield by the South Americans, Campbell got a close strike on the counter. Uruguay now had to chase the game but seemed to be linking up well and finding some rhythm with a succession of attempts in the 69’. It had been 12 years since Costa Rica had won a World Cup finals match and as Uruguay were getting desperate Costa Rica were now playing on the counter. This paid off and a beautiful 3rd goal was scored by Costa Rica through Urena, the substitute edging it around the keeper. This sealed the deal for the team not expected to win a single match in the group of death. Desperation got the better of Uruguay and an inexcusable wild foul by Maxi Pereira saw him leave with a red card in added time, the first red of the tournament.

As things ended, the Costa Ricans find themselves temporarily on top of group D.

Analysis

Uruguay lacked solidity and determination on their play and their attack was not focused in the second half. Half hearted passing saw them loose the ball more than often and their attack seemed to break down before it started. Costa Rica showed good team play and passing, not fearing a technically superior team. Cavani played too deep to make any impact and should have played more direct.

The 2014 World Cup has already shown that it is full of surprises at every stage and we don’t know what to expect next!