Sao Paulo: Luis Suarez recovered from a knee injury on time to land a mortal blow on England on a chilly evening at Corinthians Arena here on Thursday. The deadly striker’s superb brace was the cornerstone of Uruguay’s 2-1 win in Group ‘D’. England are now closer home than to the pre-quarters.
After two losses from as many matches, England are on the brink of a new low in the World Cup. For the first time since 1958, the Three Lions are in danger of not progressing to the second round. No team has ever got out of the group stage after two defeats and England need miracle of miracles to buck the trend.
First of all, England’s destiny isn’t in their hands. They need favours from Italy to harbour any hopes of staying longer here. If Italy beat Costa Rica and Uruguay, there could be a sliver of hope for England through goal difference provided they pocket three points against the Central American country in their final group match.
Unlike the complex equation for England, the finishing touch of Suarez was simple. The toothy forward buried two of the three chances he had to push England nearer to the grave in the so called group of death.
Uruguay’s crushing defeat at the hands of Costa Rica in the opening round could now be attributed to the absence of Suarez. Talk about returning with a bang after a month on the treatment table.
After opening their campaigns with defeats, both England and Uruguay were desperate for three points and the man who earns his living in England as a Liverpool player was ultimately the difference between the two teams.
Wayne Rooney, under fire for his lack of sharpness in the 2-1 loss against Italy, came close to opening the scoring twice in the first half. He fired a free kick wide before thudding a header on to the bar. Six minutes from time, the deadlock was broken at the other end as Suarez got to the end of a measured left-wing cross from Edinson Cavani to nod home.
The Uruguayan hero celebrated with his team’s medical staff to acknowledge their work in getting him ready for the England match. Despite dominating possession England lacked the cutting edge up front. What was the use of having Brazuca for an hour if it couldn’t be fired into the Uruguayan net? Having the lion’s share of possession without scoring is like travelling smoothly on the wrong road. England had been much better against Italy.
Suarez and Cavani missed sharp chances after the break to keep England in the game. Rooney restored parity in the 75th minute by tapping in right-back Glen Johnson’s cross from the edge of the area for his first goal in three World Cups.
But the final word belonged to Suarez. He latched on to a long goal kick from Fernando Muslera after it had got a faint touch from Steven Gerrard’s head and the rest was an unmitigated disaster for England.
The bazooka finish of Suarez had class written all over it. One Liverpool man’s agony was another’s joy.
