Old foes to renew battle

Hyderabad: More than half-a-century later, the 1958 disaster still haunts English footballers and fans. The disastrous first round elimination is a humiliation that the country prays will never be repeated.

Unfortunately, for millions of them this painfully sordid bloomer is likely to revisit all over again at Sao Paulo, if the current crop of superstars fails to win the crunch Group D encounter against Uruguay in the ongoing edition in the early hours of Friday. On that count, the expectations, and the corresponding onus, remain doubly magnified and could possibly get reflected in the hour of reckoning.

A morale boosting indices for the Englishmen is that two-time champion, Uruguay, is also in a spot of bother following their inexplicable loss to Costa Rica. To compound the worries, they are rather heavily dependent on the on-field brilliance of Luis Suarez, who missed the first match because of injury and is racing against time to be battle-ready for the ensuing all-important do-or-die encounter.

The opening games have exposed the frailties of both of the teams. The Uruguayan defence appeared vulnerable against counter-attacks. In order to make a match of it, the likes of Diego Lugano, Diego Godin, Martin Caceras and Alvaro Pereira have to sort out the weaklings and come good, particularly considering that Oscar Tabarez is devoid of the luxury of experimentation to plug the leaky defence.

The midfield, which comprised of Walter Gargano, Arevalo Rios, Christian Stuani and Clemente Rodriguez, failed to impose itself against Costa Rica, thereby rendering the strikers inept at their job. Tabarez has options in the midfield and in all possibility there will be a revamped look with Gaston Ramirez and Nicholas Lodeiro starting to provide openings.

The biggest worry confronting Tabarez is that he has painstakingly woven the team prospects around Suarez, who not only scored but also created goals in the qualifiers. It is to such extraordinary levels that even the electrifying physical presence of Suarez can bolster the team morale. If he fails to recover in time for the kick-off, the citadel could crumble and come as godsend to the opponent.

On the other hand, Hodgson has to address the quixotic issue of Wayne Rooney, who, like Suarez, has been a one-man demolition squad for his team. The Manchester United striker, compelled to play an unfamiliar left wing role, was all at sea. Give it or take it, the mercurial Rooney was the villain-of-the-piece in the first game sham.
For Rooney to be effective, wiser counsel and the once bitten twice shy dictum ought to prevail upon the coach, who should play his trump card in the hole behind Daniel Sturridge.

The brittle English engine room failed to deliver goods against Italy. The Liverpool duo of Steven Gerrard and Jordan Henderson was woefully ineffective. As things stand, Jack Wilshere might partner Gerrard to give impetus to the acceleration. The English back did a reasonably good job despite the loss.

Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain being fit is good news to the squad, although he is a doubtful starter. Young Rahim Sterling, who impressed against Italy, could play in the flanks alongside Danny Welbeck.

It is a painful realty for both outfits that having lost their opening matches they are in a must-win situation, which implies that it will be curtains for the 2014 campaign of one of them on the conclusion of the potential thriller. No arithmetic jugglery can set right this fact of life.

Though England has the marginal edge, it will boil down to the productive abilities of Suarez and Rooney and who of the two will stand out. Probable line-up Uruguay: Fernando Muslera, Martin Caceras, Diego Lugano, Diego Godin, Alvaro Pereira,Walter Gargano, Arevalo Rios, Gaston Ramirez, Nicholas Lodeiro, Edinson Cavani and Luis Suarez England: Joe Hart, Glen Johnson, Gary Cahill, Phil Jagielka, Leighton Baines, Steven Gerrard, Jack Wilshere, Rahim Sterling, Danny Welbeck, Wayne Rooney and Daniel Sturridge