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Natal, Brazil—Elimination was NOT an option for either team when they walked onto the field and stood in front of their fans singing their national anthem; however once the game clock started, all eleven players realized very quickly that one of them were going back home. Group D standings were as follows before Tuesday’s (June 24, 2014) games between Italy vs. Uruguay and Costa Rica vs. England:
Costa Rica 2 wins with 6 points
Italy 1 win and 1 loss with 3 points
Uruguay 1 win and 1 loss with 3 points
England 0 wins and 2 losses with 0 points
The game between Italy and Uruguay was crucial because they were fighting for the runner-up spot in Group D, because both teams had 3 points. If Italy wins or ties the game, then they will go to round 16; however, the ONLY way Uruguay can move up is if they win. There was a lot of weight on this game because it determined the runner-up spot so both teams knew it was a do-or-die situation. Before the game started, Italy’s Coach Cesare Prandelli changed up his line-up before the game started. His line-up was the 3-5-2 also known as the 5-3-2 formation; which meant he placed 3 players in the back, 5 in the middle, and 2 in the front. The big advantage to this formation is that it is very defensive and it does not allow Uruguay’s players such as; Luis Suarez and Alvaro Pereira many goal scoring opportunities
Whereas Uruguay’s coach, Oscar Tabarez had the 4-3-1-2 formation; which meant he placed 4 players in the back, 3 in the middle and 3 in the front. The big advantage to this formation is that they will close down Italy’s defensive midfielder; such as Andrea Pirlo a very effective and masterful player for Italy. These two coaches are very aware of each other opponent’s strengths and are ready to shut each team down.
In the first half of the game, Mario Balotelli got a yellow card because he jumped over Alvaro Pereira and kneed him in the back of the head. For the most part Italy possessed the ball majority of the time in the first half. According to the halftime stats on ESPN it stated:
Italy possessions 64 % and Uruguay possessions 36%
Italy shots 5 and Uruguay shots 5
Italy 175 passes completed and Uruguay 75 passes completed
Overall it was looking like Italy was stronger in the first half; however, everything changed in the second half, when Egidio Arevalo received a yellow card because he kicked Marco Verratti and he went down. Italy’s Claudio Marchisio received a red card at the 59 minute mark because he put his cleats into Egidio Arevalo’s knee after losing possession of the ball; which put Italy at a big disadvantage because they went from 11 players to 10. This started a downward spiral for Italy’s players because Mattia De Sciglio received a yellow card for holding against Gaston Ramirez, at the 79 minute Luis Suarez bit Giorgio Chiellini in the box. The referee did not call the incident so as a result Uruguay received a corner kick. The corner kick was by Gaston Ramirez; after he kicked it Diego Godin headed the ball right past Gianluigi Buffon into the goal. This was the goal Uruguay needed to win the game and go to the next round. At the 80th minute Uruguay was up 1-0, all they needed to do was run the clock and wait for the whistle to blow so they could celebrate their victory. The whistle blew and the fans went wild because the underdog won the game and are now playing against Colombia on June 28, 2014 (Saturday).
Araceli Mendoza is a Writer for Couch Rider Report Follow her on Facebook.