A day after Russia and Egypt took the pitch in Saint Petersburg, Uruguay and Saudi Arabia will square off at 5pm in Rostov.
Saudi Arabia currently holds the 32nd position out of possible 32 World Cup teams. Uruguay was disappointing in Ekaterinburg, but Oscar Tabarez’s team got the result it wanted anyway. Jose Maria Gimenez’s injury time header has put the South Americans in a position to secure a place among the last 16 with a win on Tuesday. It’s possible the hard-earned victory over Egypt combined with Saudi Arabia’s 5-0 loss to Russia will relax the Uruguayans. The Asian team is not great, but it wasn’t nearly at its best on opening day. Juan Antonio Pizzi will make sure to motivate his players and try to repair the awful impression his squad made in game one.
There’s no history between these two teams, as the only official contests have been friendlies. Tabarez’s experiment with Nahitan Nandez in the starting lineup didn’t work. He was ineffective and deserved to be substituted even earlier than he was. The same goes for Giorgian De Arrascaeta.
He and Nandez are technically supreme, but lack big-game experience. That’s exactly what Carlos Sanchez and Cristian Rodriguez brought when introduced to the pitch. They are both over 30, but their experience showed as Uruguay’s pace and movement improved as soon as they came on. Luis Suarez was awful. He missed three clear chances and if Uruguay didn’t win, he would’ve been the one to blame. Stuani and Maxi Gomez, two extremely gifted strikers, were sitting on the bench, so there’s no explanation for why he wasn’t substituted.
Nothing went right for Saudi Arabia in Moscow. Countless errors and misdirected passes kept opening the door for Russia. Now that the nerves are gone, mistakes are not something Pizzi’s team is allowed to make. I expect the Arabians to significantly improve on their first performance. Considering Uruguay’s reluctancy to attack, it’s quite possible Saudi Arabia makes a game out of this meeting. Their biggest problem will be how to contain Edinson Cavani. If Suarez was way below the necessary level for a World Cup, Cavani was excellent. His desire to be involved in the actions’ build-up was praise-worthy. His masterful passes set up two of Suarez’s goalscoring opportunities.
I expect to see a few changes in Uruguay’s starting lineup, not only because of the opponent, but also for rest purposes. It’s quite possible Sampdoria’s most treasured asset Lucas Torreira gets to show what he’s got. If Uruguay plays without pressure and with freedom, it won’t have problems taking down the Saudi Arabians. If not, problems could arise.
Prediction
Uruguay 2-1 Saudi Arabia
