Italy 0-1 Uruguay: Five Talking Points

The final game of Group D of the FIFA World Cup 2014 in Natal, Brazil was poised to decide which team would go through to the knockout stages and who would be packing their bags for going home. Italy and Uruguay who were the two most fancied sides to go through the group of death, created the situation of death for themselves after minnows Costa Rica surprised both and booked their place for the round of 16.In this make or break match, Italy controlled possession from the first whistle while Uruguay looked to break through with quick movements and one touch passes. Both sides looked cautious in their approach although Uruguay looked the likelier team to score the goal. After an actionless first half, the second half began in a similar fashion until the half hour mark when Marchisio earned a straight red card to reduce his side to 10 men.Uruguay started to grow in confidence and Luis Suarez struck once again; not with is feet but with his teeth. Then came the decisive moment of the game as Diego Godin’s header clinched a 1-0 victory for Uruguay to send them in the knockout phase while it was Arrivederci for the Italians.Where was the battle won and lost? We take a closer look through 5 main talking points of the match.

#5 Italy a world class team without world class strikers

For the second game running, Mario Balotelli proved to be a liability up front as he grabbed the attention on the wrong end of the play. The Milan striker squandered chances against Costa Rica and followed it up with a woeful performance against Uruguay. A yellow card is all he could earn in a game where he couldn’t register even a single shot on goal. A frustrating first half led to his substitution after half-time capping off a disappointing campaign in the tournament.

His partner Ciro Immobile was no different except maybe for the work rate that he offered. The new Borussia Dortmund striker failed to link up with his team-mates, was generally poor in holding up play, posed no threat and failed to get in behind the opposition defenders in the penalty area. Lacking a genuine poacher or a target man to convert or at least create spaces for chances led to the downfall of the Azzurris and they themselves are at fault for their loss.