Uruguay’s late 1-0 win a cruel end for fate-tempting Egypt

Uruguay ultimately overcame Egypt’s smart defensive shape, cruelly defeating a team that had avoided vulnerability.

Usually, when a team is sitting deep to grind out a result, they are tempting fate. They’re packing numbers behind the ball, conceding possession and neglecting to put together attacking sequences — the opposition, even with the difficult task of breaking down a tight shape, look like they could crack the game open at any point.

Uncertainty and fragility come with the proposition. For 89 minutes, however, that was not the case for Egypt in their opening group stage game against a superior Uruguay side. They stuck to their guns, and with Mohamed Salah watching from the bench, they caused Uruguay’s big guys maximum frustration. Fate seemed on their side.

Luis Suarez made the “toothless” jokes easy, missing a first-half sitter and taking three dribbles too many on a second half breakaway. Aside from a banger of a volley that was palmed away by goalkeeper Mohamed El-Shenawy, Edinson Cavani was invisible. Both of Uruguay’s strikers, leading the line in a 4-4-2, looked sluggish.

Egypt’s game plan, while similar in principle to those of many smaller teams at the World Cup, was set up specifically to beat Uruguay. It crowded the middle of the field and placed a defensive midfielder, often Mohamed Elneny, directly in front of the center-backs at all times. The goal was to take away any and all service into the feet of Suarez and Cavani.

If Suarez was going to touch the ball, it was going to be deeper in midfield. Cavani spent much of the game drifting wide in search of touches. These scenarios are unfavorable for Uruguay, who struggled to generate playmaking from anyone else.

Sacrificing attacking numbers for defensive coverage is a rather obvious doctrine of Egypt’s style. By pinching wingers Amr Warda and Trezeguet into the middle, they assured the success of it; two-striker set-ups are built to overcome tight midfield systems through combination play and movement, so the presences of Warda and Trezeguet further deterred Cavani and Suarez.

The Pharaohs arranged themselves to suffocate Uruguay’s strikers, even if it meant leaving only two or three players to venture forward. One of the drawbacks of the 4-4-2 is its dedication to playing through the strikers. The formation does not leave room for roaming creators outside of a true, Messi-type second striker (Cavani is not that). Crowding out a striking partnership is difficult, but if accomplished, it goes a long way toward crowding out an entire attack.

The defensive importance of the wingers in Egypt’s style is one of the main reasons Hector Cuper chose not to sub on Salah. Obviously, he’d have been in the game for 90 minutes if he were healthy, but when the outside midfielders have so many responsibilities in the defensive shape, there’s no sense in risking an attack-oriented injured superstar.

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Uruguay’s lack of a player who can break lines in attack quickly became evident. They needed other places to go with the ball other than forcing switches onto the flanks (where Egypt were willing to concede space in exchange for low-percentage crosses). The decision not to call in Seattle Sounders number 10 Nicolas Lodeiro (almost) came back to haunt them in this game.

Well, it would have come back to haunt them if not for Jose Gimenez’s 89th-minute set piece header, which left El-Shenawy motionless and ensured three points for Uruguay. It was a cruel way for Egypt to lose, especially cruel given how stable and secure they had played up to that point. Uruguay had had chances, but rarely did it look as though Egypt would relent.

Set pieces, set pieces, set pieces. Soccer is a sadistic game sometimes.