Costa Rica 3 - Uruguay 1

Photo by Jamie McDonald

The affair between Costa Rica and Uruguay in Fortaleza was played at a quite relaxed pace in the early going. Both sides were missing big players in this match through injury. Uruguay were without forward Luis Suarez; Costa Rica lacked strker Alvaro Saborio and left back Bryan Oviedo. Neither side was managing any sort of offense aside from set pieces in the earl stages of the match. Midway through the period, Uruguay capitalized on a set piece to snatch the lead. Junior Diaz was whistled for hugging Diego Lugano inside the penalty box as Lugano tried to leap for a header on a set piece. Uruguay converted the penalty kick to give Uruguay the opening goal. That goal appeared to open up the game as both teams looked more willing to attack. Ticos forward Joel Campbell (pictured, white) found himself with time and space to fire from distance, but his missile just flew wide of target. A Costa Rican corner kick from late in the half was allowed to bounce in the six-yard box, but Giancarlo Gonzalez was unable to put a head on the bounce. Uruguay nearly pulled a miraculous second moments later when Diego Forlan's effort on goal took a heavy deflection and looped toward the top corner. Costa Rica goalkeeper Keylor Navas sprinted and leapt with his right arm over his left shoulder to tip the ball away at the final moment. Uruguay led 1-0 at intermission.

A Cristian Bolaños free kick nearly the impetus for the equalizer. He found Oscar Duarte at the far pot, but Uruguay goalkeeper Fernando Muslera had the near post covered. Duarte skied the rebound well off frame. Pure hustle created the equalizer for Costa Rica moments later. Cristian Gamboa sprinted to the endline to prevent a goal kick and managed to whip in a fast cross. Campbell ended up with the ball in the box with no defenders in his area, so he decided to strike the ball into the net for 1-1.  Three minutes later, yet another set piece came Costa Rica's way, and they finally made good on this type of chance. Oscar Duarte bravely dove with his head to get a touch ahead of Cristian Stuani's outstretched foot. Duarte's header was brilliant, and it found the side netting at the far post to give the Ticos a 2-1 lead. Campbell hit another missile just wide of target, and suddenly Uruguay looked very much like the inferior side. A quickly chipped cross in from Cebolla? found Cavani ten yards out, but Navas made a diving save to parry the ball to safety. Campbell decided to cement his place as man of the match. With under ten minutes to go, he pushed a through ball in from the right flank. Recent substitute Marcos Ureña ran onto the ball, and with no help coming, he decided to go for the sharp-angled rolling shot. He executed it to perfection, avoiding the slide tackle of the goalkeeper as he pushed into the vacant net for a 3-1 lead. In stoppage time, Maxi Pereira drew the first red card of the tournament for clipping Campbell in frustration. Costa Rica win 3-1 after completely outclassing Uruguay in the second half.

Goals
Costa Rica
Joel Campbell 54
Oscar Duarte 57
Marcos Ureña 84

Uruguay
Edinson Cavani 24 PK

Match Reports:
http://www.espnfc.us/team/costa-rica/214/blog/post/1882888/costa-ricas-success-against-uruguay-only-one-step-in-right-direction
http://www.espnfc.us/blog/the-match/60/post/1881614/uruguay-loss-means-they-must-win-their-next-two-world-cup-games

Highlights:
http://www.fifa.com/worldcup/videos/highlights/match=300186489/index.html