Uruguay's Luis Suarez (C) controls the ball during a group A match between Egypt and Uruguay at the 2018 FIFA World Cup in Yekaterinburg, Russia, June 15, 2018. (Xinhua/Du Yu)
YEKATERINBURG, Russia, June 15 (Xinhua) -- Jose Gimenez scored the only goal and lifted Uruguay 1-0 over Egypt in their World Cup group A match at the 35,000-seat Yekaterinburg Arena stadium here on Friday.
In the 89th minute, Uruguay snatched a late win when Gimenez headed powerfully past goalkeeper Mohamed El-Shenawy into the lower right corner after meeting a free kick from substitute Carlos Sanchez.
The Egyptian side determinedly fought back in stoppage time but failed to create a good chance.
It is the second game of the tournament. Last night, hosts Russia beat Saudi Arabia 5-0 in the opening match.
To the Egyptians' disappointment, their national hero Mohamed Salah wasn't able to make it to the starting line-up after suffering a shoulder injury from Liverpool's Champions League final loss to Real Madrid on May 26. Issam al-Hadary, the 45-year-old legendary goalkeeper of Egypt, didn't enter the starting list either.
In the Uruguayan side, two ace strikers: Luis Suarez and Edison Cavani, were responsible for most of the attacks in the front, posing a major threat to their Egyptian opponents.
In the eighth minute, the highly-spirited Cavani took a speculative blast but was denied by the diving El-Shenawy who replaced al-Hadary in the starting lineup for Egypt.
Two minutes later, Egypt's Trezeget'slow shot was saved by the alert Fernando Muslera.
Both sides wasted a few chances for the rest of the time in the first half, and the most threatening moment came from Suarez in the 23rd minute when he took advantage of the chaos in front of the goalline after Uruguay opened a corner but sent the ball wide.
A few replacements were made in the second half, but the much-anticipated Salah didn't come off the bench.
In the 73rd minute, Suarez, who had not been in good form this match, missed what might be the best chance till this moment after meeting a pinpoint pass from Cavani, but the ball was confiscated by El-Shenawy.
Friday's match marked the third appearance of Egypt at football's showpiece event after a 28-year absence. Salah was the one who almost single handedly booked the place in Russia for Egypt.
"I'm happy with what we have done. Yes, we lost match. It was not a good thing, but the team has given its best," said Egypt coach Hector Cuper after the match.
The 62-year-old Argentinian tactician added that if his star player Salah had been on the pitch today, the outcome might have been different, but "we can't know that."
He noticed that without Salah, his team just lacked the cutting edge. "In general terms, we played a good match, especially in last 20 minutes, we put pressure to try to find spaces we could capitalize on, but we just lacked that finishing touch," he said.
It was also the first time for two-time World Cup winners Uruguay to have a victory in their opening match in the recent six World Cup tournaments.
"I'm very happy with the attitude of the (our) team, and how they played throughout the game," said Uruguay coach Oscar Tabarez.
Regarding Salah, he said that he was sure Egypt would have benefited if Salah had been on the pitch. "But we had matches in qualifying without Suarez and Cavani, and we won most of those matches any way," he added.
According to FIFA, Egypt is ranked 45th in the world, while Uruguay is ranked 14th. The most recent encounter between the two sides was a friendly 12 years ago, in which Uruguay swept Egypt 2-0.
A total of 27,015 spectators attended Friday's match at the Yekaterinburg Arena stadium, which lies on the geographical border of Europe and Asia.
