The city of Sao Paulo is bracing itself for the first “do-or-die’’ match of this World Cup between former champions England and Uruguay tonight and the high-voltage fixture has generated quite a considerable amount of interest in the capital of Brazil’s most populous state. Group D was duly dubbed the group of death due to the presence of three former world champions and it is definitely living up to its reputation.
Both England and Uruguay have failed to pick up any point so far in the group of death, losing 2-1 and 3-1 to Italy and Costa Rica respectively in their opening games and both sides are fully aware that they must pick up three points tonight to keep their hopes of qualifying for the knockout stages alive. Thousands of English supporters were seen arriving in the city and are expected to match the Uruguayans in equal numbers in a game which will show the exit door to the team which is beaten in this match.
If England beat Uruguay, they will face Costa Rica in their final group game knowing victory is likely to be enough to see them qualify for the knockout stages for the fifth consecutive time. If the England-Uruguay clash ends in a stalemate, then victory for the English against Costa Rica could be enough if Costa Rica lose against Italy tomorrow. If England lose against Uruguay, then they will need to beat Costa Rica and hope Italy beat Uruguay and Costa Rica. Due to all the probable permutations, the encounter between England and Uruguay promises to be a fascinating one.
All the focus will be on the return of Uruguay star Luis Suarez who has declared himself 100 percent fit and determined to rescue his nation against the country where he plies his trade in club football. England will have to explore an effective strategy to stymie the player who has troubled the most staunchest of Premier League defences in 2013/14 while playing for Merseyside giants Liverpool.
Suarez has not featured in a club or country game in five weeks, but following Uruguay’s shock defeat to Costa Rica, his presence in the field was severely felt by coach Oscar Washington Tabarez. And on the eve of the crucial game, the star striker was all ready to plot England’s downfall. “We are going to give our best against England. And, trust us, we are the first who want to move forward. England have really good players who I played against all year. I know their defenders, the strikers and the coach as well. They played very well against Italy but it’s been a hard couple of days because of the defeat to Costa Rica,’’ said Suarez.
England coach Roy Hodgson on the other hand was completely engrossed about his possible formation and may change the position of Manchester United forward Wayne Rooney. Hodgson employed a 4-2-3-1 formation against Italy with Suarez’s club-mate Daniel Sturridge playing as a lone striker in front of an attacking triumvirate of Rooney, Raheem Sterling and Danny Welbeck. This time, Rooney might be imposed as the second attacker beside Sturridge as England may adopt a 5-3-2 formation. England were also seen practising shootouts not towards the goalpost but specific targets.
The Sao Paulo police authorities have already started their vigilance act across the Arena de Sao Paulo to prevent any untoward incident and the strengthening of security measures were clearly visible as 600 CC Honda Hornets were seen roaming around the venue ahead of the blockbuster tie.
