England 0 Uruaguay 1
By Carly Goodwill
September 27 2009
England's chances in Ismailia were dented last night after Uruguay scored a late winner at the Ismailia Stadium in their World Cup opener.
It was tough on England, who saw their first chance of the game when Febian Brandy won a corner on the right in the seventh minute, which was taken by Paul Marshall who swung it over for Martin Kelly, but the defender’s header glanced wide of the post and just three minutes later a similar routine saw Kelly come even closer to a goal, when he sent a shot narrowly wide after Marshall’s corner had been headed back into the danger zone by Ben Mee. Matthew James then had a low shot at goal from 25 yards after nicely breaking through midfield which tested Nicola Perez.
The first fifteen minutes looked positive from the England side, but Uruguay also looked dangerous in possession and had some lively players in Jonathan Urretaviscaya and their captain Nicola Lodeiro but the closest they came was when Mauricio Pereyra cut the ball in from the right and fired a shot but it went wide of the post.
England goalkeeper Elliott Parish was then forced to make a great save in the 24th minute, when Lodeiro hit a hard left footer from the edge of the box, the Aston Villa man reacted sharply and kept it out with his left hand.
Perez was forced into another stop soon after though, when Marshall hit a free-kick at goal but it was too central and the Uruguayan stopper made a comfortable save.
Uruguay almost took the lead in spectacular fashion just after the 40 minute mark, when Marcelo Silva’s acrobatic overhead kick flew narrowly wide of the post, after the ball was flicked onto him from a corner.
England were forced into a change at the break after Matthew Briggs took a heavy blow just on the stroke of half time and he was replaced with Nana Ofori-Twumasi, this didn’t affect the pattern of the game too much though, with the sides still looking to find a way through and both teams appearing well organised in their defence.
Uruguay looked like they were going to make the breakthrough just short of the hour mark when Urretaviscaya easily passed over two challenges to break into the box, but England had enough cover at the back and Mee and Adam Clayton combined well to take the ball from him just as he was about to set up Santiago Garcia for a shot.
The South Americans began to enjoy their best spell of the game after that, with Kelly forced into a solid block in the area to deny Urretavisaya who got the ball from the resulting corner taken by substitute Tabare Viudez, Urretaviscaya flicked a header across goal for Gacia at the far post but he shot straight at Parish. Garcia then had another, better chance when he was put through on goal by Loderio, but his left footed shot was weak and Parish managed to save it easily.
It was then England’s turn in the 74th minute, when substitute Jon Obika picked up a pass from Clayton and took the ball into the area but his cross drifted just over well placed Nimely and Brandy. It looked like the game was going to end in a draw until with just six minutes remaining, Uruguay's substitute got hold of the ball near the penalty spot and hit a superb ball which travelled straight past Elliot and into the net, leaving England with a tough next game against Ghana.
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I really should pull my finger out and actually do some stories lol
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The Lords My Shepherd.
The future is bright. The future is Stripes.
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Quote:I really should pull my finger out and actually do some stories lol
Well...I Did ask for some "bedtime stories"..but all i got was a stern NO!
I haven't seen any previews!
Czech's v Kangaroo's on now!