Suarez double shatters England
Print Edition
LUIS Suarez scored twice as Uruguay sent England spinning towards their earliest World Cup exit in 56 years on Thursday with a 2-1 victory.
And when Costa Rica beat Italy yesterday in the other Group D game, in Recife, courtesy of a 44th minute goal from Bryan Ruiz, England exited the tournament in Brazil.
Liverpool striker Suarez grabbed the second of two opportunistic goals in the 85th minute of a tense Group D battle in Sao Paulo after Wayne Rooney had looked to have rescued a point for England with a 75th-minute equalizer.
The defeat left England, beaten 2-1 by Italy in their opening match, needing a miracle if they were to reach the second round of a World Cup, something they had not failed to do since 1958.
“We are more then disappointed, we’re devastated,” England manager Roy Hodgson said after the loss.
Suarez — once a hate figure due to his reputation as a diver, racial allegations against him and a biting incident with Chelsea’s Branislav Ivanovic — won over the English game last season. He was English football’s player of the year after scoring 31 Premier League goals for Liverpool.
The 27-year-old had been a doubt for the World Cup after undergoing knee surgery in May, but returned to haunt an England side containing five of his Liverpool team-mates.
“Yes, I dreamed of this,” Suarez said. “It was something I imagined many times, but I had to calm myself down.”
With both teams knowing that a defeat would likely prove fatal to their chances of progressing to the last 16, the game started cautiously.
But loose play from England captain Steven Gerrard saw Uruguay break swiftly, with Nicolas Lodeiro releasing Edinson Cavani down the left.
The Paris Saint-Germain striker delayed his cross to perfection, leaving Suarez, who had ghosted clear of Phil Jagielka, to head back past England goalkeeper Joe Hart.
With England struggling to break Uruguay down for much of the second half, Suarez’s opener looked to be enough.
But 15 minutes from time Rooney tapped in his 40th international goal, and his first at a World Cup, after a low Glen Johnson cross.
England looked the likelier to score thereafter, but five minutes from time the ball broke to Suarez off Gerrard and the striker raced clear, glanced up and then unleashed a ferocious shot into the roof of the net.
The result left England bottom of Group D without a point. Costa Rica’s victory over Italy yesterday put the Central Americans on six points with Italy and Uruguay on three.
Earlier Thursday, having started with exciting wins, Colombia and Ivory Coast served up a thriller in Brasilia.
Even without injured leading striker Radamel Falcao, the South American champions are showing an abundance of offensive talent.
James Rodriguez beat Ivory Coast substitute Didier Drogba to a corner with a powerful header for the first goal before Juan Quintero coolly netted a second in a 2-1 win that put Colombia on six points and guaranteed them a berth in the last 16 from Group C.
Gervinho pulled one back for the Africans, but it was not enough to stop the party among Colombia’s fans.
Colombia sealed their second round berth after Japan and Greece played out a dour 0-0 draw in Natal in the other Group C match. Japan and Greece must now win their final matches against Colombia and Ivory Coast respectively to have any chance of going through.
Greece captain Kostas Katsouranis was sent off in a game full of huff-and-puff but lacking Suarez-style finishing.
- About Us
- |
- Terms of Use
- |
-
RSS - |
- Privacy Policy
- |
- Contact Us
- |
- Shanghai Call Center: 962288
- |
- Tip-off hotline: 52920043
- 沪ICP证：沪ICP备05050403号-1
- |
- 互联网新闻信息服务许可证：31120180004
- |
- 网络视听许可证：0909346
- |
- 广播电视节目制作许可证：沪字第354号
- |
- 增值电信业务经营许可证：沪B2-20120012
Copyright © 1999- Shanghai Daily. All rights reserved.Preferably viewed with Internet Explorer 8 or newer browsers.
