In what was one other exceptional spherical of World Cup fixtures on Friday, each Ghana and Uruguay noticed their World Cup adventures come to a shocking finish on the Al Janoub Stadium.
While the Black Stars may need been determined to achieve some revenge for his or her 2010 heartbreak, a Giorgian de Arrascaeta first-half brace helped the South American giants declare a 2-0 victory.
With André Ayew lacking what turned out to be a vital early penalty, it was ultimately South Korea that despatched each of the World Cup rivals packing after a shocking finish to Group H.
With the Asian heavyweights springing a significant upset as they snatched a last-gasp 2-1 victory towards Portugal, Uruguay’s heartbreak couldn’t be hidden on the ultimate whistle as they missed out on a knockout stage ticket by a single objective.
In a day of extra World Cup drama on the Al Janoub Stadium, we’ve taken a have a look at a few of the key speaking factors.
Too little, too late for La Celeste
Opening up their World Cup journey final month with many feeling that Uruguay had been the standout decide to assert a silver medal end in Group H, La Celeste have had little to cheer about this winter.
Getting their Qatar quest underway with a sluggish 0-0 stalemate towards South Korea on November twenty fourth, Diego Alonso’s males have struggled to search out prime gear and they’ve typically appeared like a shadow of their former selves.
While Flamengo’s De Arrascaeta may need actually caught the attention because the 28-year-old bagged a first-half brace, Uruguay have been desperately looking for a medical edge within the ultimate third.
Although the South American giants may need lastly bagged their first Group H victory on the third try right here, it proved to be meaningless following South Korea’s gorgeous last-gasp winner towards Portugal.
Drawing back-to-back blanks of their opening two World Cup appearances, Alonso’s heartbroken squad may also know that they missed out on a golden likelihood this yr.
Eventually crashing out of this yr’s event due to a single objective in Korea’s favour, that is the primary time since 2002 that Uruguay have didn’t make it out of the group stage.
Defensive struggles price Ghana
Eventually claiming what was an exciting 3-2 victory towards South Korea earlier within the week, Ghana opened Friday’s showdown figuring out that that they had their future in their very own fingers.
However, whereas the previous AFCON champions may need additionally been determined to assert some revenge 12 years on from their notorious assembly towards Uruguay, Otto Addo’s facet had been as soon as once more haunted by some quite evident defensive points.
With Ayew lacking from the spot after being awarded a controversial penalty after simply 21 minutes, the Black Stars failed to supply a lot within the ultimate third after coming back from the interval chasing a 2-0 deficit.
Opening their World Cup journey with a busy 3-2 loss by the hands of Portugal on November twenty fourth, Ghana shipped seven strikes of their three Group H appearances – the joint second-worst defensive tally throughout the entire World Cup teams.
Eventually ending rock-bottom of the Group H desk, Addo’s squad shall be greater than conscious that they let a historic likelihood slip by their fingers on the Al Janoub Stadium.
While Ghana may take some delicate consolation in the truth that their bitter rivals additionally noticed their World Cup tour come to an early finish, the African powerhouse have now didn’t e-book a knockout stage spot since 2010.
End of the highway for Uruguay’s veterans
Seen in floods of tears on the ultimate whistle after figuring out they had been seconds away from discovering a route out of Group H, this was clearly not how Suarez and the remainder of Uruguay’s veterans needed to see their worldwide adventures come to an finish.
With the ex-Liverpool man nonetheless clearly an enormous a part of La Celeste’s plans this winter, it seems that that is additionally the top of the highway for each Edinson Cavani and Diego Godin.
With all three of Uruguay’s iconic trio failing to search out their finest with a lot fluidity within the Middle East, this can nearly definitely be the final time that they characterize their nation on the main event stage.
Although each Rodrigo Bentancur and Federico Valverde may need continued to type an attention grabbing partnership on the coronary heart of Uruguay’s midfield, the South American giants might want to nearly begin from scratch over the following couple of years.
Still in search of Liverpool’s new record-signing Darwin Nunez to completely discover his ft in Alonso’s set-up, there is no such thing as a doubt that La Celeste have loads of gaps that must be crammed.
With some again residence feeling that their growing old squad have struggled to evolve over current instances, Uruguay and their veteran superstars will now have inquiries to reply.
Match Report:
Ghana: Ati-Zigi, Seidu, Amartey, Salisu, Rahman, Partey, Samed, Williams, A. Ayew, J. Ayew, Kudus
Subs: Bukari, Kyereh, Issahaku, Sulemana, Semenyo
Uruguay: Rochet, Varela, Gimenez, Coates, Olivera, De Arrascaeta, Bentancur, Valverde, Pellstri, Suarez, Nunez
Subs: Gonzalez, Cruz, Vecino, Canobbio, Cavani
Goals: De Arrascaeta (26′, 32′)
Yellow Cards: Ghana: Seidu, Sulemana – Uruguay: Cavani, Gimenez, Coates, Nunez, Suarez
Red Cards: N/A
Referee: Daniel Siebert
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