Suárez Makes Heroic Victory For Uruguay Meanwhile Costa Rica Surprises Italy And Qualifies First!

Just weeks after undergoing knee surgery, Luis Suarez scored both of Uruguay's goals here Thursday in a 2-1 victory over England.

The result leaves Uruguay with three points after two matches and a chance of advancing to the knockout stage.

The "dual of the desperate" between England and Uruguay unfolded in front of 62,572 spectators - including some 20,000 Uruguayans - at São Paulo's Arena Corinthians.

England had the better of the play for long periods in the first half, but were unable to finish.

The best chance belonged to Wayne Rooney, an accomplished scorer for Manchester United in the Premier League and England international since 2006 who came into Thursday's contest with no goals in World Cup play.

Rooney's thundering shot after teammate Danny Welbeck was fouled sailed less than three feet over the top of the net.

 Welbeck and Daniel Sturridge also had opportunities, yet it was Uruguay who struck first, on Suarez's header in the 39th minute off a beautiful ball from Edinson Cavani.

The South Americans dominated for the first 20 minutes or so of the second half, though to no avail, as both Suarez and Cavani squandered chances to double the lead.

England regrouped and began applying pressure. Uruguay goalkeeper Fernando Muslera needed cat-like reflexes to turn aside a point-blank shot from Rooney.

 The Man United stalwart would get another chance, however, and this time, he made no mistake, hammering the ball past Muslera at the 75-minute mark.

The sides traded blows, but the English had the edge and Muslera was tested by a shot from Sturridge, Suarez's Liverpool teammate and partner in the Premier League's most potent offensive.

Who else but Suarez to deliver the win for Uruguay, taking advantage of a defensive miscue to make it 2-1 in the 85th minute

Costa Rica followed up its surprise win over Uruguay with another World Cup stunner on Friday, beating four-time champion Italy 1-0 to secure a spot in the next round and eliminate England in the process.

Costa Rica captain Bryan Ruiz gave his side the lead in the 44th minute, heading in off the underside of the crossbar following a cross from Junior Diaz. Goal-line technology was used to show that the ball bounced down and in after hitting the bar.

There was a frenetic end to the first half, as moments before Ruiz’s goal Costa Rica had a penalty appeal waved away when striker Joel Campbell was bundled over by Giorgio Chiellini.

Costa Rica leads Group D with six points, while Italy and Uruguay have three each before Tuesday’s showdown. England has zero points after losing to Italy and Uruguay.

So after entering the tournament as an expected underdog in a group featuring three former world champions, Costa Rica is now on top.

“Maybe there are a lot of people who didn’t have faith in us because we were in the ‘Group of Death.’ But the dead are the other ones and we’re going to the next round,” Ruiz said.

Costa Rica coach Jorge Luis Pinto was on the same wavelength.

“We have played a historic team. They’re really good,” he said. “They have wonderful players so, of course, we feel really proud. Our team feels proud, our country feels proud. We want to go even farther.”