COSTA RICA 3, URUGUAY 1
FORTALEZA, Brazil -- Costa Rica came from behind to stun Uruguay 3-1 Saturday at the World Cup, opening the tough Group D with a major upset.
Costa Rica entered the tournament as one of the biggest underdogs to make it out of the group stage after being drawn with Uruguay, Italy and England, but showed no signs of being in awe as it scored three goals in the second half to seriously dent the South Americans' hopes of advancing.
Uruguay had to leave star striker Luis Suarez on the bench but went ahead when Edinson Cavani scored a penalty in the 24th minute. However, Costa Rica fought back after the break and lone striker Joel Campbell drove in a ball headed down by Celso Borges in the 54th to beat goalkeeper Fernando Muslera.
Oscar Duarte dived past the outstretched foot of Uruguay's Cristian Stuani to head in the winner for the Central Americans, and substitute Marcos Urena added the third with six minutes left, catching out Muslera to slot the ball in from a tight angle.
It was Costa Rica's first World Cup victory since beating China in the group stage in 2002.
"What counted is that we stayed calm and kept creating opportunities against a very tough team," Costa Rica Coach Jorge Luis Pinto said. "We have great respect for Uruguay but we weren't that impressed tonight and we able to play our game the way we wanted. So it was a big win for us."
Uruguay started with striker Diego Forlan alongside Cavani but the 35-year-old made little impact and was substituted on the hour for Nicolas Lodeiro.
Uruguay -- the highest-ranked team in the group -- ended their disastrous night with 10 men after Maxi Pereira was sent off for a clumsy injury time foul on Campbell. Pereira will be suspended from the next game against England.
"They were simply very good. In the second half they just took over -- and they took the tactical advantage," Uruguay Coach Oscar Tabarez said. "Football means that sometimes you have to lose. You can't lose heart, you just have to improve ... We made mistakes today that we haven't made for a long time."
Suarez is still recovering from knee surgery and never came off the bench -- indicating that the Liverpool forward is still far from match fitness.
GROUP C
COLUMBIA 3,
GREECE 0
BELO HORIZONTE, Brazil -- Colombia started its first World Cup campaign in 16 years in dazzling fashion, beating Greece to open Group C on Saturday in front of a big, loud pro-Colombian crowd.
Left back Armero opened the scoring in the fifth minute when his deflected shot rolled past Greece goalkeeper Orestis Karnezis. Striker Teofilo Gutierrez poked in Colombia's second goal from a deflected corner in the 58th and James Rodriguez capped it off with a low shot in stoppage time after a slick backheel flick from Juan Cuadrado.
Colombia's pace and trickery were too much for Greece to handle in the latter stages as the 57,174 crowd, most dressed in bright yellow shirts, constantly chanted "Ole, ole" at Estadio Mineriao.
"It was a good debut with players who had never played a World Cup. It's a big satisfaction," Colombia Coach Jose Pekerman said. "This is how we planned this match. Some things turned out the way we wanted, some things didn't, but we were very focused and showed that we're here to play a good World Cup."
Rodriguez said the result showed Colombia was on the right path.
"It's a good start, but we have to be calm for what's ahead, which will be even more difficult," he said, looking ahead at Group C matches against Ivory Coast and Japan.
Greece had the majority of possession with 54 percent, but whenever Colombia players got hold of the ball, they blazed down the flanks and through the middle of the pitch, disorienting their opponents.
The Greeks had a chance to pull a goal back after Gutierrez scored, but an unmarked Georgios Samaras rattled the crossbar from two yards out.
There were other chances, too. Panagiotis Kone's shot went just wide in the first half. Colombia goalkeeper David Ospina then made an outstanding reaction save to deny Kone just before halftime.
"You can't make excuses when you lose 3-0," Greece Coach Fernando Santos said. "We had good spells of play and all we can do now is look at the next matches."
Kone said Greece didn't make the most of its possession and the chances it created.
"The score doesn't show it, but I think we played well," he said. "But these games are turned on the details, and they didn't work for us today. We're still proud to be here, and we'll continue to play hard."
Greece defenders started getting frustrated with Colombia's pace in the second half and began to foul the South Americans, with two players picking up yellow cards within minutes.
The result will give Colombia confidence that it can win competitive matches without star striker Radamel Falcao, who was ruled out after failing to recover from a serious knee injury. The other Group C teams, Ivory Coast and Japan, were playing later Saturday.
Greece will now have to regroup ahead of its second match against Japan after its notoriously solid defense leaked three goals.
Sports on 06/15/2014