England is on the verge of being eliminated from the 2014 FIFA World Cup after suffering a 2-1 loss to Uruguay at the hands of the hottest forward in world football, Luis Suarez.
The Uruguayan forward and Liverpool hitman put two past goalkeeper Joe Hart to secure the three points for his country, the first points they have earned after losing 3-1 to Costa Rica in round one of Group D.
Suarez scored his first goal of the game late in the first half, placing a perfectly hit header into the top corner of the goal and leaving Hart rooted in place. England started the second half strong, and after over 750 minutes of World Cup action, Wayne Rooney finally scored his first tournament goal. Glen Johnson pushed up the right wing into the box and slipped a curling, low pass to the foot of Rooney, who beat his defender and tapped home to give England an equalizing effort.
Re-energized after Rooney’s goal, England began looking for a second but left themselves exposed in the back line. With five minutes to go in the game, captain Steven Gerrard made an error in midfield and headed backwards to an offside Luis Suarez, but since the ball came off an England head, the Uruguayan striker was onside and he made no mistake with his chance, burying a shot into the top of the net and giving Uruguay a 2-1 lead.
Five minutes of added time wouldn’t be enough for England, who has now lost its first two games of the group and is close to being eliminated from the World Cup. Their fate is in Italian hands now: the only way England can qualify is if Italy defeats Costa Rica and Uruguay to get the full nine points in the group.
Then, Uruguay and Costa Rica would be tied at three points each. England would then have a chance to go ahead with a win over Costa Rica, provided they score enough goals to beat the other two sides on goal difference. Despite their poor positioning in the group, England’s hopes remain very much alive; a win over Costa Rica by a big margin is very possible, as is an Italian win against Costa Rica and Uruguay.
Still, England will be wishing they could start over in what has quickly become the toughest group to qualify out of. Whatever happens, England will be boosted by the knowledge that this young core of new faces is showing attacking promise. A touch of experience could prove valuable in the years to come.
