Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/335393
Sport 19 maltatoday, WEDNESDAY, 25 JUNE 2014 SPORTTODAY Uruguay send 10-man Italy home with a controversial 1-0 win Captain Diego Godin scores Uruguay's winner with an 81st-minute header, sending 10-man Italy out of the World Cup thanks to a controversial 1-0 win in Natal Italy ............................ 0 Uruguay ...................... 1 AFTER Costa Rica's goalless draw against England, the two Latin American teams from Group D pro- ceed to the Round of 16, while Italy becomes the third former World Cup winner to be sent home from the Brazilian tournament. Above all, the game in Natal will be remembered for at least two contentious second-half incidents: Mexican referee Marco Rodriguez's harsh decision to send off Claudio Marchisio in the 59th, and his fail- ure to spot what appeared to be a bite by striker Luis Suarez on Gior- gio Chiellini inside Italy's area. With midfielder Giuseppe De Rossi out injured and with Italy knowing that a draw would see them through, coach Cesare Pran- delli fielded a fairly guarded 3-5-2 formation, with Ciro Immobile starting for the first time alongside Mario Balotelli up front, and an all- Juventus defence at the back. His Uruguayan colleague, Oscar Washington Tabarez, confirmed Suarez and Edison Cavani, who Prandelli had described as "the World Cup's best attacking duo," and fielded a speculative 3-5-2 sys- tem, leaving out injured defender Diego Lugano. The Uruguayan starting XI in- cluded two players who know the Italians well, since they play their club football in Serie A: Martin Caceres of Juventus and midfielder Alvaro Gonzalez of Lazio. The game was played in tropical temperatures of 33 degrees, but a pre-match drizzle and a cool breeze helped mitigate the hostile climate. Both sides nevertheless had a guarded and rather nervous start to the game, with play constantly being broken up by fouls. And de- spite the pressure being on Uruguay to score, Italy easily controlled the game during the first half, espe- cially at midfield, thanks to Andrea Pirlo and an inspired Marco Ver- ratti. The game's first chance landed Suarez's way in the eighth minute, but his long-distance free-kick was easily punched away by keeper Gi- anluigi Buffon. It was then Pirlo's turn, in the 12th minute, to test Fernando Mu- slera with a free kick that the Uru- guay goalkeeper tipped over the crossbar. The game's expected protagonist, Balotelli and Suarez, had an inef- fective first half. In fact, the Ital- ian's main fete was to get himself booked for a trivial foul at midfield, meaning he would have missed Ita- ly's next game. Suarez, meanwhile, was mostly out of the game and only made himself noticed with a 37th-minute exchange in Italy's area with Nico- las Lodeiro, whose short-range shot from an awkward angle was easily blocked by Buffon. Prandelli, having taken note of Balotelli's off day in Natal, substi- tuted him during the break with midfielder Marco Parolo. An appeal for a penalty for Cavani was rightly turned down by Mexi- can referee Marco Rodriguez in the 50th minute. And with the clock ticking, Uru- guay began applying more pressure and should have scored in the 59th, but Cristian Rodriguez sent the ball wide from a comfortable position. One minute later, the match-turn- er: Marchisio was shown a red card for what had looked like a nasty, but fairly routine challenge on Egidio Arevalo, prompting furious pro- tests from the Azzurri. The incident was likely to raise questions from the Italy camp for FIFA president Joseph Blatter, who was watching the game from the stands. Uruguay grew in confidence after the incident, and Suarez forced Buf- fon into a difficult save in the 65th. But Italy continued to threaten with Immobile, now the Azzurri's only striker, while seeking to defend for the final third of the game. Prandelli was then forced to sub- stitute two of his most exhausted players, Immobile with Antonio Cassano and Verratti with Thiago Motta. Another controversial incident took place in the 79th, when Sua- rez appeared to bite Italy defender Giorgio Chiellini on the shoulder inside the Italian area. The incident was not noticed by the referee. And with the Italians still furious, Godin headed Uruguay's winner off a free kick to send the mostly Uruguayan fans on the stands into heaven. Diego Godin (2-L) of Uruguay scores the winning goal. Photo by EPA/PAOLO AGUILAR Italy 1. Gianluigi Buffon, 3. Giorgio Chiellini, 19. Leonardo Bonucci, 15. Andrea Barzagli, 2. Mattia De Sciglio, 8. Claudio Marchisio, 21. Andrea Pirlo, 23. Marco Verratti 75', 4. Matteo Darmian, 17. Ciro Immobile 71', 9. Mario Balotelli 46' Subs 12. Salvatore Sirigu, 5. Thiago Motta 75', 6. Antonio Candreva,7. Ignazio Abate, 10. Antonio Cassano 71', 11. Alessio Cerci, 14. Alberto Aquilani, 18. Marco Parolo 46', 20. Gabriel Paletta, 22. Lorenzo Insigne, 16. Daniele De Rossi, 13. Mattia Perin Uruguay 1. Fernando Muslera, 22. Martin Cacere, 13. Jose Maria Gimenez, 3. Diego Godin,6. Alvaro Pereira 63', 20. Alvaro Gonzalez, 17. Egidio Arevalo Rios, 7. Cristian Rodriguez 78', 14. Nicolas Lodeiro 46', 21. Edinson Cavani, 9. Luis Suarez Subs 12. Rodrigo Munoz, 4. Jorge Fucile, 5. Walter Gargano, 8. Abel Hernandez, 10. Diego Forlan, 11. Christian Stuani 63', 15. Diego Perez, 16. Maxi Pereira 46', 18. Gaston Ramirez 78', 19. Sebastian Coates, 2. Diego Lugano, 23. Martin Silva