Three Lions to face Suarez-led Uruguay

England’s Rooney under the microscope before crucial Group D encounter.

SAO PAULO:

Heavyweights England and Uruguay must resurrect their World Cup hopes, or face the prospect of an early flight home, when they collide in a crunch Group D fixture in the early hours of Friday.

Opening defeats to Italy and Costa Rica respectively have left both countries in danger of elimination with little room for error in their last two pool games.

Defeat in Sao Paulo would surely spell doom for either Roy Hodgson’s new-look England or two-time winners Uruguay, who were unimpressive in their 3-1 loss to Costa Rica.

Both countries have question marks over their strikers, with calls in British media to either drop talisman Wayne Rooney, or move him from the left to his preferred central role.

For Uruguay, Liverpool’s Luis Suarez, this season’s Premier League top-scorer with 31 goals, is set to make his return from keyhole surgery on his the meniscus in his left knee last month.

Rooney set up England’s goal but missed a chance to equalise during Saturday’s 2-1 loss to Italy, in a subdued display which had many critics questioning his place.

The Manchester United forward, 28, has yet to score at a World Cup and when he was spotted training with the reserves on Monday, speculation rose that he had been axed.

Chelsea’s midfield legend Frank Lampard hit out at the obsession with his teammate.

“A fixation with one player can become, rather than a debate, a bit of an agenda,” he said. “So I do think we need to drop the agenda and look at the team, whoever plays.”

Defensive fragility could return to haunt England with problems down the left, while centre-half Gary Cahill was out-jumped by Mario Balotelli when heading the winner.

Uruguay have their own worries at the back after their defence was repeatedly rattled by Costa Rican strikers Joel Campbell and PSV Eindhoven’s Bryan Ruiz.

The build-up has not been short of hyperbole with Uruguay coach Oscar Tabarez calling it a ‘final’ and captain Diego Lugano describing it as ‘life and death’.

England’s Daniel Sturridge, who was on target with a sweet first-time finish against Italy, said it would be ‘do or die’ in Sao Paulo.

Colombia face the Elephants test

Colombia are planning to rely on a possession game to combat the speed and power of Ivory Coast when the two sides meet in Brasilia on Thursday.

Colombia top the group after a dominant 3-0 victory over Greece while Ivory Coast hit back from a goal down to beat Japan 2-1.

The Japanese struggled to make their high-tempo, high-energy gameplan work against the Africans, but Colombia midfielder Fredy Guarin says the South Americans will look to bypass the physical advantages of the Elephants by making the ball do the work.

“They’re a very physically strong team who fight for every ball and will rely on their physicality to try to beat us, but with our football, our passing and control of the ball we can have success,” said the 27-year-old.

Meanwhile, Japan and Greece will clash in a crucial match which can potentially knock one of them out of the tournament.

The Blue Samurai will be looking to their star player Keisuke Honda for inspiration, while Greece will be hoping their attacking prowess pays dividend against a weak Japanese defence.

Published in The Express Tribune, June 19^th, 2014.

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