Uruguay eliminated from World Cup after Spain's 1-0 victory

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Uruguay are out of the World Cup again and it’s nobody’s fault but theirs. “3 million dreams,” the banner said high in the stand in Guadalajara; instead it was a recurring nightmare. Divided and dysfunctional, led by a man who barely even says buenos dias to his players, and unable to get beyond a draw against Saudi Arabia or Cape Verde, they needed something big against Spain but they could only manage two shots on target all night, neither of which came before the 80th minute or carried even the slightest threat. Spain meanwhile had just one, and that didn’t carry much of a threat either. But a dreadful mistake from Fernando Muslera allowed Alex Baena’s shot slip into the net just before a half-time break from which he did not come back. Uruguay fought but didn’t play much football and so they fell. For the second World Cup in a row they failed to get through the group and if four years ago that could be explained by the teams in their group – South Korea, Ghana and Portugal – and they had only been eliminated on goals scored, this time the list of opponents only made it worse, demanding a far deeper analysis. Continue reading...

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Uruguay bowed out of the World Cup as goalkeeper Fernando Muslera's howler gifted Spain a 1-0 win in Guadalajara to secure top spot in Group H. Alex Baena's weak shot slipped through Muslera's grasp for the only goal as Spain avoided a last 32 showdown against Argentina.And in Guadalajara, Spain had barely threatened the Uruguay goal before the 40-year-old allowed Baena's shot to dribble over the line from Marcos Llorente's cross on 42 minutes.

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Goalkeeper Fernando Muslera's mistake gifts Alex Baena the only goal of the game, as Spain defeat Uruguay to send Marcelo Bielsa's side out of the World Cup in the group stage.