Uruguay left it late to defeat Egypt in their World Cup opener, with Jose Gimenez’s 90th-minute header earning La Celeste an undeserved three points.
Egypt were more than a match for their opponents for much of the game, and goalkeeper Ahmed El Shenawy made a series of impressive saves to keep Edinson Cavani and Luis Suarez – who was very poor – at bay.
But Gimenez popped up in the dying stages to change the game and get Uruguay’s campaign off to a perfect start.
Uruguay had the best of what was a rather dull opening period, but for all their possession, La Celeste only had one really good chance on goal; Suarez fired into the side-netting from close range, after a delivery into the Egypt area cause confusion.
The Pharaohs, expected to struggle against Oscar Tabarez’s side, were equalling their opponents all over the park, but they too found it hard to hit top form in the final third.
After wasting his brilliant chance in the first half, Suarez was foiled soon after the restart by goalkeeper El Shenawy, who got down well to block the forward’s shot after he was played in by Cavani.
He was denied a third time just over 15 minutes from time, with El Shenawy saving well again, just a few moments after Fathi forced a good stop from Muslera in the Uruguay goal with a long-range effort.
El Shenawy popped up again with a fine flying save to push a Cavani volley wide, and the resulting corner led to a chance which was cleared off the line.
Uruguay started to ramp up the pressure as the clock ticked down, seemingly spurred on by Cavani’s brilliant attempt, and he went even closer to breaking the deadlock with two minutes remaining, but his excellent free-kick struck the post and, after an attacking mix-up in the box, the ball was eventually cleared.
But all these misses did not matter, as Gimenez crashed his wonderful header into the far corner of El Shenawy’s goal in the final minute of regulation time to win the game.
STAR MAN
Ahmed Hegazi was superb at the heart of Egypt’s defence. The West Brom defender marshalled Edinson Cavani with supreme composure, and only lost Luis Suarez on a few occasions. Egypt’s defensive structure did make Hegazi’s job easier, but that should not take away from just how impressive he was.
MOMENT OF THE MATCH
Gimenez’s goal was the ultimate game-changer, coming so late in the match Egypt could do basically nothing about it. The defender had been great for the entire match, and just when it appeared a stalemate was on the cards, he won all three points, undeservedly, for his nation.
LINE-UPS
Egypt: El Shenawy, Fathi, Gabr, Hegazi, Abdel-Shafy, Warda (Sobhi 82′), Hamed (Morsy 50′), Elneny, Trezeguet, Said, Mohsen (Kahraba 63′)
Subs not used: El Hadary, Ekramy, Elmohamady, Gaber, Salah, Ashraf, Hamdy, Shikabala, Samir
Uruguay: Muslera, Varela, Gimenez, Godin, Caceres, Nandez (Sanchez 58′), Vecino (Torreira 88′), Bentancur, De Arrascaeta (Rodriguez 59′), Suarez, Cavani
Subs not used: Campana, Martin Silva, Stuani, Gaston Silva, Maxi Pereira, Laxalt, Gomez, Coates, Urreta
GROUP A TABLE
