Luis Suarez again proved his world class ability as his brace left England's World Cup hopes hanging by a thread.
There is no doubting the sheer skill of the man, although he has built up a bit of a reputation for some of his previous antics in the game, including a deliberate handball and biting an opponent.
I will be among those to admit that, when players with those kind of reputations, are involved in an incident your first reaction is usually to think they are in the wrong.
Suarez, who defied the odds to recover from a knee operation in time to play, had already given England a glimpse of what was to come when he headed Uruguay in front six minutes before half-time. At first when he scored, I was lambasting a clanger from Joe Hart in the England goal and couldn't believe he had not saved it. This was my patriotic passion coming to the fore, becoming frustrated at every little thing, so desperate was I to see England succeed. Hart maybe should have done slightly better but it wasn't the clanger I had first thought. This game really was getting the emotions flowing as we all wanted our World Cup campaign to continue for as long as possible.
England, who had shown a lot of positivity in their unlucky defeat by Italy, seemed to lack ideas at times in parts of the game. But they got back into the tie when good work from Daniel Sturridge released Glen Johnson, who slid the ball into Wayne Rooney to score from close range after 75 minutes. It was Rooney's first ever World Cup goal and it seemed to galvanise the side as Roy Hodgson's men upped their game and, at that point, looked the more likely to grab a winner.
But headline-maker Suarez was clinical once again when he latched on to goalkeeper Fernando Muslera's long punt up field to fire home in the closing minutes. On first viewing some England fans were convinced the goal was offside and, probably because of Suarez's reputation, were even more irritated by the decision to award the goal as they were convinced Suarez had "cheated" again. I was among that group and could not believe he had got away with it yet again.
When later reflecting on the game and seeing replays again, it turns out the long ball had been flicked on by the head of England skipper Steven Gerrard, and the frustratingly onside Suarez made no mistake as he coolly slotted the ball beyond Hart.
England were unable to find a response, leaving their World Cup hopes hanging by the thinnest of threads. It is strange to think we are playing better than we did in the last World Cup in 2010, but we are far worse off having yet to register a point in Brazil. But the crazy thing is that, unlike Spain, we are not out of the tournament just yet despite having lost both of our opening two group games.
If Costa Rica get anything out of their clash with Italy, England are out. But we can't think like that! Although this World Cup has been full of surprises, if Italy can get the result most people expect by beating Costa Rica, then England still have a glimmer of hope.
In that scenario, England would head into their final group game with Costa Rica knowing that if win, and Italy beat Uruguay, they could yet get out of Group D and into the knockout stages on goal different.
On the one hand, this seems unlikely and that to think of this possibility is clutching at straws. Then again, the reality of the situation is, Italy are more than capable of winning their remaining two games. If they do, we have to seriously up our game to beat Costa Rica and maybe, just maybe, we might be able to enjoy this World Cup for a little while longer.
No team has ever got out of the group stages after losing their opening two games, so come on boys, let's go write our own piece of history in the World Cup book.
For all the drama and disappointment of England's loss to Uruguay, fans could've been forgiven for forgetting there was another World Cup match televised later that evening. Fans deciding to stay up to watch the late game probably would've wished they'd not stayed awake an extra 90 minutes as neither Japan or Greece could be separated in a goalless draw.
The task got more difficult for Greece when their captain Konstantinos Katsouranis was sent off for a second bookable offence before half-time. But the Greeks didn't simply roll over and Japan goalkeeper Eiji Kawashima had to be alert on few occasions to keep them out. Japan couldn't find away past Orestis Kanezis either as both sides kept alive their chances of getting into the knockout stages, although Ivory Coast look more likely to be the ones progressing from Group C.
But the African side dropped points in their match following a 2-1 defeat by Colombia, which secured the South American's place in the knockout stages.
Teofilo Gutierrez really should have put Colombia ahead in the first half but he side-footed his effort horribly wrong, a truly embarrassing miss! But his blushes were spared after the restart as two goals in six minutes from James Rodriguez and substitute Juan Quintero put Colombia in control.
Gervinho gave Ivory Coast a lifeline when he danced past three defenders to score three minutes later, but Colombia held on for the win, leaving the African side with plenty work to do if they are to join their opponents in the round of 16.
The World Cup really is in full flow and the games I have seen as a neutral have been a pleasure to watch. It is just a shame that once again England have left me excited, nervous, frustrated and a whole host of other emotions and we still don't know our fate!
Although the tournament as a whole has been full of excitement and drama, many fans would probably admit that once their home nation is knocked out of a World Cup their own personal interest in the competition fizzles out a bit.
But let's hope this doesn't happen for England. As faint as our hopes may be considered to be let's not give up hope! Let's continue to back the boys and see what happens...you just never know!
QUE SERA SERA
EN-GER-LAND
No comments:
Post a Comment