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Saturday, June 14, 2014

Game 6 Recap: Uruguay 1-3 Costa Rica

URUGUAY 1-3 COSTA RICA

It's just the 3rd day of the World Cup and we've already seen 2 favourites go down in stunning fashion. This occasion it was the 2-time champions Uruguay who were stunned by upstart Costa Rica, considered the bottom-feeder in Group D. It was also sweet revenge for the central American nation, who had their 2010 World Cup dreams dashed by Uruguay four years ago in the last stage of qualifying.

With star striker Luis Suarez on the bench, Uruguay came out of the gate dictating pace and imposing their physical style of play on their opponents. Suarez was sorely missed around the penalty area though as Uruguay lacked a consistent finishing touch and could never get a sustained bout of scoring attempts going.

Uruguay picked up the first break in the 22nd minute when Junior Diaz hauled down Diego Lugano in the area off a free kick winning a penalty for Uruguay. Despite guessing right, Keylor Navas could not reach the Edinson Cavani penalty giving Uruguay the 1-0 lead. 

Costa Rica refused to go away though and continued to knock on the door of a beleaguered Uruguay defensive line. Joel Campbell's strike from distance sailed just wide in the 27th. This was followed by a number of squandered opportunities off of both corner and free kicks. Uruguay nearly stretched their halftime lead to 2-0 in the 44th, but Keylor Navas made a fantastic save diving backwards to stop a deflected Diego Forlan shot.

Like Spain against the Netherlands, the second half saw the collapse of Uruguay. A run of good play from Costa Rica ended with Cristian Gamboa sprinting down field to catch up to a through ball. Sending a cross in just before the ball crossed the end line, Campbell settled it down and slotted the ball home for the equalizer.

Minutes later came the shocker when Oscar Duarte got on the end of a Christian Bolanos free kick to head inside the far post for the surprising 2-1 lead.

Uruguay pressure built as the half went on but their lack of finishing failed them and the game fell out of reach in the 84th minute. Just on as a substitute, Marco Urena slid a through ball past a rushing Muslera from a sharp angle to finish things off.

Things turned ugly in injury time, as a frustrated Maxi Pereira hacked down Campbell at the knees for a straight red card. Pereira will miss Uruguay's game against England and additional discipline is not out of the question.

Goals

Uruguay: Edinson Cavani (24')
Costa Rica: Joel Campbell (54'), Oscar Duarte (57'), Marco Urena (84')

Discipline

Uruguay: Diego Lugano (Yellow, 50'), Walter Gargano (Yellow, 56'), Martin Caceres (Yellow, 81'), Maxi Pereira (Red, 90+4')
Costa Rica: N/A

Man of the Match

One of the biggest questions for Costa Rica would be the play of their strikers without Alvaro Saborio. Joel Campbell lay those fears to rest in one game. Campbell's combination of size and strength gave Lugano and Godin fits in the Uruguayan defensive end. He had a number of strikes from distance go just wide and contributed a goal and an assist in the Costa Rican winning effort.

Key Moment

With the crowd still buzzing after the Costa Rica tying goal, Christian Bolanos' lobbed a free kick through the area and found Oscar Duarte who deftly headed inside the far post to shock Uruguay. The South Americans never appeared to get their footing back in the game and Costa Rica was never about to surrender their lead.

What we learned from Uruguay

A bad night from Edinson Cavani contributed but this team really needs Luis Suarez back from injury. No Uruguayan attacker was able to find a scoring touch in this game with the only goal coming off of a penalty kick. Their defence was exactly as advertised although they weren't expected to struggle as much in this one. Too many fouls in the defensive third and unable to handle the power of Campbell in particular.

What we learned from Costa Rica 

Not only are they not a doormat in Group D, this team has everything necessary to advance past the group stage. Similar in style of play to Netherlands, their wing backs switched effortlessly between midfield and defender giving Costa Rica a great balance between offence and defence. They'll be just fine up front as well as Bolanos continually delivered quality balls to the forwards and Campbell may have had the performance of a lifetime on a world stage.

Going Forward

Suspending judgment until after the England-Italy game. Sufficed to say the group is completely in flux at this point.

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