Sao Paulo: Star Uruguay striker Luis Suarez sent England on the brink of an early elimination from the World Cup with a double strike in his side’s 2-1 dramatic win on Thursday.
Suarez, who did not play in his side’s shock 1-3 loss against Costa Rica, returned from a knee surgery last month to haunt the country where he plays club football for Liverpool to score in the 39th and 85th minutes and keep Uruguay afloat in the tournament.
England, on the other hand, were still winless from two matches having lost to Italy 1-2 in their opening match. Their exit was confirmed after Costa Rica beat Italy in a Group D encounter on Friday.
Japan hold Greece
Japan, meanwhile, held Greece to a goal-less draw in Natal.
Colombia topped Group C with six points from two matches while Ivory Coast, Japan and Greece will fight it out for the remaining round of 16 berth.
It was Liverpool striker Suarez who stole the limelight on the eighth day of the World Cup with his double strike sending former champions England on the brink of an early exit from the tournament.
England faced the prospect of making one of the earliest returns to home from a World Cup. They had also crashed out of the first stage in 1950 and 1958.
The dramatic match at the Arena Corinthians looked like heading for a draw with England equalising through Wayne Rooney’s maiden World Cup goal in his third tournament appearance and 10th match.
England even threatened to score the winning goal as they applied immense pressure on the Uruguay goal after the Rooney strike. But it was not to be the day of England, and a mistake by captain Steven Gerrard, who could not clear a long kick by Uruguay goalkeeper Fernando Muslera properly, sent his Liverpool team-mate Suarez in the clear to send the ball past England goalie and bury it into the net.
In another Group C match in Natal, despite being reduced to 10 men after captain Costas Katsouranis was sent off in the 38th minute with his second booking, Greece held Japan to a drab 0-0 draw.
Both sides picked up their first point and can still qualify from the group, although they must win their final matches to do so. Greece play Ivory Coast, who are on three points, in their final match while Japan take on Colombia.
Both teams inserted new strikers in search of goals and a first victory, but ultimately the main objective was survival and both achieved that with one match left in group play. Japan would have been eliminated with a loss.
Once Katsouranis was sent off after a rough challenge on Makoto Hasebe, Greece withdrew into a defensive setup and held firm. Japan pressed the attack after halftime and had several chances to score but failed to convert them.
The best came in the 68th minute when Shinji Kagawa played a long pass over the top to Atsuto Uchida, who sent it back across the middle to Yoshito Okubo, who blasted the volley over the net.
Greece goalkeeper Orestis Karnezis also was forced to make a diving save in injury time to preserve the draw and the point for Greece.
Greece’s chances of taking something from the game lessened dramatically during a disastrous five minutes in the first-half.
First leading striker Kostas Mitroglou’s injury nightmare, which saw him barely play a game for Fulham after a multi-million pound move in January, continued as he hobbled off in the 35th minute.
Things got worse for Greece just moments later when Katsouranis was sent off after being booked for a second time in the game. Greece retreated into their half of the field for most of the second half.
Japan, which had been beaten up in a physical matchup with Ivory Coast in a 2-1 opening loss, once again had to deal with a bigger, stronger and much taller opponents. (PTI)
