[www.inewsguyana.com] – Luis Suarez was mired in another biting controversy as Uruguay skipper Diego Godin sent his country into the last 16 with a late header to down Italy 1-0 in Group D at Arena das Dunas.
In a first half of few chances, Italian skipper Gianluigi Buffon pulled off a great double save to deny first Suarez and then Nicolas Lodeiro.
After the break, Buffon again made a fantastic save to deny Suarez before Claudio Marchisio was sent off for a studs-up challenge on Egidio Arevalo Rios on 59 minutes.
Suarez appeared to bite Giorgio Chiellini, who reacted with an elbow, but the pair remained on the pitch before Godin won it for Uruguay with a header from a corner with nine minutes remaining to seal the runners-up spot in Group D.
Meanwhile, in the other game England’s miserable World Cup campaign limped to a conclusion with a 0-0 draw against Costa Rica who progressed as winners of Group D.
Roy Hodgson made nine changes to his starting line-up from the defeat against Uruguay, with the new-look side showing promise but suffering from many of the same failings which proved so costly in the 2-1 defeats by Italy and Uruguay.
Daniel Sturridge missed an excellent second-half chance to break the deadlock and there were several other promising opportunities which England could not take advantage of, while the defence looked occasionally shaky, with Chris Smalling particularly nervous.
Ben Foster did well as Joe Hart’s replacement, tipping one first-half free-kick from Celso Borges onto the top of the crossbar, but he was less employed than opposite number Keylor Navas in Belo Horizonte, the scene of England’s infamous 1950 defeat to the USA.
England’s fans started off by cheering their team loudly, and the likes of Luke Shaw, Adam Lallana and the impressive Jack Wilshere responded with good performances.
But by the end there was a flat feeling among the few thousand who had come to Estadio Mineirao and England head home having amassed just one point from their three matches – their worst points total in World Cup history.
Notes both games kicked off at 12:00pm at two different venues.
