Uruguay advances; Spain keeps pace with Portugal with win
That was quite a meaningful goal scored by Luis Suarez on Wednesday in Rostov-on-Don, Russia.
Suarez scored the winning goal in his 100th international appearance for Uruguay, knocking in a corner kick from Carlos Sanchez in the 23rd minute to give the two-time champions a 1-0 victory over Saudi Arabia.
That goal put both Uruguay and host Russia into the second round of the World Cup while eliminating the Saudis and Egypt at the same time.
It was the Barcelona striker’s 52nd goal for his country.
“None of the games at the World Cup are easy to win,” Suarez said. “You can never be relaxed.”
Uruguay and Russia both have six points from their opening two matches. They will face each other on Monday in Samara with first place in Group A on the line.
“We need to fine-tune some things, but we are more than proud because for three World Cups in a row we have advanced to the knockout round, so we want to enjoy this beautiful moment,” Uruguay coach Oscar Tabarez said.
Besides scoring, Suarez led his team with a hard-working performance. He fell back to defend and raced forward alongside Edinson Cavani on the counterattack.
Cavani nearly made it 2-0 on a solo run through the opposing defense but his attempt was blocked by Saudi Arabia goalkeeper Mohammed Al-Owais.
Facing elimination, the Saudis fought hard for a goal with Hatan Bahmi getting several early chances. But they were outmatched by the Uruguayan defense and were under regular threat from Suarez and Cavani.
Spain 1, Iran 0: Patience is a virtue, and Spain showed plenty of it to overcome a tough challenge in Kazan. During a frustrating evening when the 2010 champions struggled to break through the stubborn Iranian defense, Diego Costa scored on a deflection for a win.
Costa scored in the 54th minute after being set up by Andres Iniesta. The striker turned in the area and took a shot that deflected off Ramin Rezaeian before bouncing onto Costa’s knee and into the net.
Costa, who scored twice against Portugal in their 3-3 draw Friday, has three goals at this World Cup, trailing Cristiano Ronaldo by one.
Spain and Portugal lead Group B with four points each. Iran has three points, having beaten Morocco earlier, and could win the group if it beats Portugal on Monday and Morocco gets points against Spain.