Two time world champions Uruguay will face minnows Costa Rica in their FIFA World Cup 2014 opener which will be played at the Estadio Castelao at Fortaleza on Saturday, June 14.
Uruguay are coached by Oscar Tabarez and qualified for the finals after a lot of perspiration having failed to qualify directly from their zone. They were the last team to qualify for world footballâs most important tournament having defeated Jordan in the playoffs.
The Uruguayans have a great record in recent FIFA events besides having won the inaugural edition of the World Cup in 1930 and that famous win at the Maracana in 1950. They were semi-finalists in the Confederations Cup which was held in Brazil last year, losing to Italy on a penalty shoot-out for the third place.
Uruguay claimed a semi-final berth in South Africa as well where they were outdone by runners up Netherlands. They were defeated by Germany in the third place match despite putting up a brave performance.
There is plenty of hope for the side and although they find themselves in a tough group with England and Italy for company, Uruguay have the pedigree to progress in the tournament. A win against Costa Rica to kick start their campaign will be a nice way to gain confidence ahead of two mammoth encounters.
Premier League player of the year Luis Suarez is their most precious player and although the striker needed knee surgery prior to the tournament, he should be fit to feature at some point during the group stage. Even if he could not make the line-up for Saturday, the likes of Diego Forlan and Edinson Cavani will be major threats.
They have a fine âkeeper in Fernando Muslera and a good defensive unit that is headed by skipper Diego Lugano and Diego Godin. There is good creativity in the middle of the park as well with Southamptonâs Gaston Ramirez having proven himself as a tricky customer in the middle.
Costa Rica are in a precarious position at the moment and nothing save a miracle can help them from crashing out of the World Cup in the first round. Bryan Ruiz, of Dutch club PSV and Arsenalâs on loan striker, Joel Campbell, who turns out for Greek giants Olympiakos, are the only notable names in the lineup for the Costa Ricans.
However, Costa Rica qualified ahead of Honduras and Mexico and might yet spring up a surprise. Although it is difficult to predict a favorable score-line for Costa Rica, stranger things have happened in football.