Uruguay suffered a 3-1 loss against Costa Rica, making their next two games against England and Italy must wins. Costa Rica played an excellent game, surprising most people with their attacking prowess and devastating pace. Uruguay were definitely favorites to come out on top this game and it’s fair to say the squad as a whole under-performed. Let’s take a look at how each player for Uruguay did in the match:
Muslera: It would be harsh to blame him for the three goals that they conceded, but in this big of a stage as the World Cup, you expect a little bit more from your keeper. He did decent throughout, distributing safely and organizing the back, but we’ve seen much better performances from him in recent past. 5/10
M. Pereira: Unfortunately, the Benfica man’s performance is going to be overshadowed by the red card he earned at the end of the game. His lashing out summed up Uruguay’s frustration with Costa Rica’s strategies. Even so, his contributions did not result to much, sending in crosses from the right side that never really threatened Costa Rica’s defense. 4/10
Lugano: Not one of his better performances. Lugano struggled with the pace of Costa Rica’s attack and never really looked comfortable on the ball today. His lack of pace was exploited again and is going to be one of Uruguay’s major weaknesses that Tabarez is going to have to address. He won the penalty that led to Cavani’s goal, but in the resulted to very little. 4/10
Godin: Definitely the better of the two central defenders today. He threatened in set pieces for Uruguay, scoring an offside goal, and managed to keep Costa Rica’s attack quiet for a good portion of the game. However, Godin will need to put in a stronger performance at the back if Uruguay want to make it out of the group stages. 6/10
Caceres: Below average performance by the left back. Defensively he wasn’t very sound and was lost to Campbell’s pace when he had to go one on one. Offensively, he provided some good link-up plays with Rodriguez, but nothing more. 5/10
Arevalo Rios: He was actually one of the standout performers for Uruguay today. He played with great desire and fulfilled his role well as a destroyer, interrupting Ruiz’s tricky plays from midfield and stopping them before they threatened the team. His passing was simple and safe, which is what you ask of you’re defensive midfielders. 6.5/10
Walter Gargano: Relatively quiet throughout the game. Did not see much of him and didn’t contribute anything significant to the team, resulting in him getting subbed off for Lodeiro. 4/10
Stuani: Played on the Right Wing for the first half of the game and switched to a Forward position to partner Edinson Cavani later in the second half. Not much to be impressed by such a highly rated young attacking player. Uruguay will need to see better performances from him. 5/10
C. Rodriguez: Worked hard, linked up well with the forwards, spread the game wide, got back on defense. But unfortunately, much of his efforts resulted in nothing. Lacked efficiency in the final third of the pitch. 5/10
Diego Forlan: Did his best to help link the midfield up with Cavani playing up top. Delivered some fantastic balls into the box and threatened the goalkeeper on more than one occasion. Not a spectacular performance like we’re used to seeing, but a stable one. 6/10
Edinson Cavani: He was constantly making runs into the box, but unfortunately his midfielders did not do a great job of finding him all the time. Cavani scored the penalty with great ease and provided a lot of attacking prowess for them in the final third. He needs to be able to change to game by himself at some moments if he wants to be a truly great strikers. He had a few opportunities that he didn’t finish, which could have put Uruguay in front early and killed off the game. Overall decent performance, but we have seen much better. 6.5/10
Substitutes:
Lodeiro: Came on in place of Diego Forlan and fit right into the midfield, but never really made a significant impact. Took some of the corners, but never anything threatening. Need more from an impact sub. 5/10
Gonzalez: Subbed on in place of Gargano to fit in as a winger, but didn’t provide much. 4/10
Abel Hernandez: Replaced Rodriguez as Uruguay shifted to a 4-3-3. The change of system was visible, and Hernandez provided the team with some extra pace and attacking prowess, but the game was already lost and he didn’t have enough time to make a difference. 5/10
Highlights
You can view the official highlights from the FIFA website here.
