Now that Italy’s unexpected loss
to Costa Rica (though nothing is unexpected in a Football World Cup) has
eliminated England from the FIFA World Cup 2014, the added layer of critique,
the scrutiny of the English team performance, that was already there with
England’s two defeats in first two matches, has taken more acerbic shades.
After losing the Uruguay match,
England were almost out of the World Cup, depending on Italy’s performance to
continue further. Italy needed to win its next matches and England’s
performance coupled with some statistical equations could have ensured its survival.
But that didn’t happen.
And the scrutiny has become the
outright criticism now, especially by sports commentators and English fans.
But it was not what is being
written, especially for someone like me, who doesn’t watch the professional
Football but is a World Cup enthusiast. I enjoyed the game by the English team.
They played well and were equal and at par in both of their matches.
Yes, the rivals teams did walk
away with the win but none of the games were one-sided affair. In fact, none of
the days were for England (it is the story of some missed chances Vs some
chances that scored).
In the match against Uruguay, it
was indeed Uruguay’s and Suarez’s day. Luis Suarez was the differentiator.
Wayne Rooney could never be what Suarez was able to do (after returning to the
ground from a knee surgery).
Yes, Uruguay was better at times
but England did try to catch up sincerely and it reflected in many moves they
made in the 2nd half but except Rooney’s first World Cup finals goal
(yes, he could get it, finally, in the 75th minute of the match), none
of the moves hit the target. In the meanwhile, the day came to favour Suarez to
score over the equalizer by Rooney (after his first hit in the 39th
minute).
Suarez proved the winning card
for Uruguay backed with a good overall team performance. England played at par
as well if we see the overall show but it was Uruguay's and Suarez's day in
this do or die match for the two teams. Yes,
Uruguay remain and England are out of the World Cup now, but let's not say they
'crashed out'. They played spirited Football in both of their matches.
No more full length watching of
matches on TV for two days now. Match highlights are good enough. The next
match I have planned to catch is USA Vs Portugal 3:30 AM India time June 23.
It’s time for some good moments, some quality TV viewing time..
Enjoy the game. You don’t need to be a soccer expert for it. Football
was never my first love, yes, but the FIFA World Cup is different.
©/IPR: Santosh Chaubey - http://severallyalone.blogspot.com
