Uruguay and England will play for their survival in this World Cup. Both teams went down after the first game. Uruguay got surprised by a dynamic Costa Rica side who came back from a 1-0 deficit to win 3-1 and stunned the 2010 edition semifinalists.
England fell short to Italy 2-1 in Manaus despite many chances to at least grab a point. The loser of this game will be mathematically sent home which will be a big blow for one of two football powerhouses.
England coach Hodgson:
On Rooney..
“He’s been the top assist player in my two years (as England manager) and he has more goals than everyone else. “Were it not for his wonderful header against Poland we might not even be here. “He came into this tournament wanting to do very well and I think he will do very well in the tournament”.
On the team…
“if we can play like that in the next two games I think we have a good chance of getting good results. It must be said too that our young lads all played very well and I can only take positives from the game, with the exception of the result of course.
“We have got an exciting team, we showed glimpses against Italy so we have to attack this game wanting to get the right result. If we focus and we do all the right things we are doing in training and behind the scenes, then we will go and get a result. Then, all of a sudden it all opens up for us a bit more.”
Uruguay coach Tabarez:
after the 3-1 loss to Costa Rica: “We’re going to try and get back on track against England. “We’ve been in situations like this before and there is no reason why we cannot overcome this.”
“If it was difficult before, now it’s much more difficult, but not impossible. It will depend on what we can overcome. “I think the image we project is positive. We’ve received many fair play awards…and I think this proves we have good conduct in our team”.
We have gone through a lot and have always survived. Play-offs, difficult matches, extreme situations – and here we are. This generation has won almost everything and knows how to do so.”
