#33: Uruguay sail into second round after 1-0 win

AP

Rustenberg, 23 June 2010: Uruguay won Group A and Mexico also advanced on Tuesday after Luis Suarez scored in the 43rd minute to give the South Americans a 1-0 victory at the World Cup.

Both teams will face Group B members; those teams will be decided on Tuesday night.

South Africa and France did not advance after the hosts beat the French 2-1.

 

 

Suarez, Uruguay’s most dangerous striker all day, ran unguarded to the back post and headed in Edinson Cavani’s brilliant cross for his first goal of the tournament.

The two countries went into the last group game sharing the lead at four points and needed only a draw to advance. But both fielded attacking lineups. Even so, the game yielded few clear scoring chances.

Uruguay, which didn’t allow a goal in the first round, ended the group phase with seven points after overpowering South Africa 3-0 and drawing 0-0 with France.

South American teams have won nine of their 11 matches thus far. Uruguay was the final team into the 32-nation field, winning a playoff with Costa Rica after finishing fifth in continental qualifying.

Mexico earned four, but a better goal differential than South Africa (plus-1 to minus-2). It has advanced in every World Cup it qualified for since failing to get out of the first round in 1978.

Uruguay is a two-time winner of the World Cup, but those came in 1930 and 1950. It has not been a championship contender in recent tournaments and last advanced in 1990 in Italy.

This squad could be different. It has scoring power in Suarez and Diego Forlan, and its defense was unbeatable in the opening round.

"The important thing is that we qualified in first place," Forlan said. "They controlled the ball well and in truth it was quite hard for us."

Mexico coach Javier Aguirre preserved an attacking lineup that helped his team beat France 2-0 in its last game. Veteran striker Cuauhtemoc Blanco, at 37 the oldest field player at the tournament, replaced the injured Carlos Vela.

But the Mexicans never found the net. Its best chance came in the 22nd minute when Andres Guardado, in for suspended midfielder Efrain Juarez, fired a left-footed shot from 30 yards that bounced off the underside of the crossbar.

"It leaves a bitter taste," Mexican midfielder Rafael Marquez said of the outcome. "We’re all unhappy with this result and with today’s performance. We’ll have to improve now."