Uruguay 1 Costa Rica 3: Boost for England as minnows fight back to pull off shock as Luis Suarez spends game on the BENCH

This time were no dramatic tears from Luis Suarez. The Liverpool striker wasn’t even on the field, left idle by a knee injury that is clearly worse than England ever hoped.
Make no mistake about it, though, this was another night to rip the heart out of the Uruguayan. First the Barclays Premier League title slipped from his grasp on that awful night at Crystal Palace. Now his World Cup looks as though it may stall before it's even begun.
On another dramatic evening in this beguiling World Cup, Uruguay and Suarez were stunned by a team that weren’t even supposed to figure in Group D.

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Hand it to them: Costa Rica's players applaud their fans after pulling off a shock victory over Uruguay

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Time to celebrate: Costa Rica's players celebrate in front of their fans at full time

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Party time: Yeltsin Tejeda (left) and Patrick Pemberton of Costa Rica celebrate after defeating Uruguay 3-1

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Spot on: Edinson Cavani opens the scoring for Uruguay from the penalty spot before celebrating (below)

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Cavani celebrates his penalty

MATCH FACTS

Uruguay: Muslera 6; M Pereira 6, Lugano 5, Godin 5, Caceres 6; Stuani 5.5, Arevalo 6, Gargano 5.5 (Gonzalez 60mins 5), Rodriguez 5 (Hernandez 76 mins 5); Forlan 5 (Lodeiro  60mins 5), Cavani 6

Goals: Cavani (pen) 24

Booked: Gargano, Caceres

Sent off: Pereira

Costa Rica: Navas 7; Gamboa 6.5, Duarte 7.5, Gonzalez 7, Umana 6, Diaz 6; Borges 6, Tejeda 6.5, Ruiz 7 (Urena 82 mins 6), Bolanos 7, Campbell 7

Goals: Campbell 54, Duarte 57

Referee:Felix Brych

Attendance: 58,679

Star man: Oscar Duarte

Costa Rica were ambitious, energetic and brave. Inspired by young Arsenal forward Joel Campbell, they got exactly what they deserved and it is clear that they will move forwards to face Italy and then England fearing absolutely no-one.
A goal down to an early Edinson Cavani penalty, Costa Rica prefaced the start of the second half with a group huddle. Afterwards, coach Jorge Luis Pinto talked of his team's 'emotional serenity'.
Whatever was said clearly worked as Pinto’s team were so superior to Uruguay for the second 45 minutes it was quite startling.
Goals from inspirational young Arsenal striker Campbell and then from the superb Oscar Duarte and late substitute Marcos Urena left Uruguay reeling and significantly Suarez was not brought on, even as his team started to chase the game.
Suarez is clearly not fit and there has to be huge question mark now over his participation against England.To make matters worse, right back Maxi Pereira was sent off in injury time for a dreadful hack at young Campbell near the corner flag.
He will miss the England game, too.

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Head boy: Oscar Duarte (left) scores to make it 2-1 to Costa Rica before celebrating (below, left)

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Oscar Duarte

 

Afterwards Uruguay coach Oscar Tabarez was contradictory when he provided his now customary update on Suarez’s state of health.

'Suarez is fit,' he said.'If he wasn’t he wouldn’t have been on the bench. He has gone through the phases we have foreseen and we will see what happens now.

'We have four days before the England game so we will see if there is a possibility he may play.'

Without the prolific Suarez, Uruguay still looked to have more than enough to hurt unfancied central American opponents.

Indeed, things went to plan for most of the first half. Cavani did miss a good chance early on, slashing wildly at a volley when unmarked, but he soon recovered to despatch  a penalty when his captain Diego Lugano was dragged down by Junior Diaz.

Briefly Uruguay looked set to take firm control of the game. Maybe they would have had Costa Rica goalkeeper Keylor Navas not produced the save of the World Cup so far to touch over a heavily deflected shot from Forlan just before half-time.

Luis Suarez post video ensuring his knee is getting better

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Can't believe it: Luis Suarez (right) was an unused substitute as Uruguay crashed to defeat

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Just before the break, however, there were some signs that Costa Rica had something to offer. Campbell drove a shot inches wide from distance while Giancarlo Gonzalez almost nudged home a corner at the far post.

As the game wore on, so Uruguay's susceptibility at aerial set pieces became clear. Afterwards, Pinto revealed he had identified it in the build-up. Certainly, Uruguay suffered in the second half.

The equaliser arrived soon after half-time. The build-up down the right was nice enough but the cross was rather hopeful. Only when two Uruguay defenders got in each other's way did it become an opportunity and Campbell lashed the ball home from 12 yards with his right foot.

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Level best: Joel Campbell (centre) scores to equalise for Costa Rica against Uruguay

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Comeback trail: Joel Campbell celebrates scoring Costa Rica's first goal

With so long left in the game, the goal seemed to represent nothing more than a curiosity. Uruguay had plenty of time to gather themselves and come again.

As it turned out, the opposite happened in front of 58,000 increasingly frenzied supporters at the Estadio Castelao. It was Costa Rica who grew in strength and again Uruguay were found out in the air as Duarte escaped the rather slack attentions of Cristhian Stuani at the far post to stoop bravely and head across goal in to the far corner. 

Uruguay immediately made two substitutions but Suarez was not among them. Briefly they rallied, Cavani bringing a save from Navas with a header.

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Three and easy: Marco Urena scores past Uruguay's Fernando Muslera to make it 3-1 to Costa Rica

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Ecstasy: Marco Urena is mobbed by his team-mates are scoring the goal that clinched victory for Uruguay

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Ugly scenes: Maxi Pereira (centre) is sent off for kicking Joel Campbell (right)

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Marching orders: Maxi Pereira leaves the pitch and heads for the tunnel after being sent off late on

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Dejected: Uruguay's players walk off at full time knowing how damaging defeat was