Afternoon all. I wish there was more football to watch, how I wish. Well, here some is! Uruguay will be on a buzz after a thumping late header gave them a win over Egypt, while Saudi Arabia can't possibly be as bad as their performance against Russia suggested. And if they are, I shudder at the thought of what Suarez and Cavani are going to do to their defence.
World Cup / Group Stage
Rostov Arena / 20.06.2018
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- L. Suárez(23')
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Updated 20/06/2018 at 17:55 GMT+1
4'
2'
Uruguay are settling themselves into the game, passing the ball pretty slowly while Saudi sit in formatiion. But then one superb long, er, diag from Betancur sees Rodriguez knock down for Suarez! He takes a touch, the spanks a shot goalwards, only for Alburayk to block immediately. Lovely stuff all round.
1'
We're off, and Saudi go long. The ball goes behind, and Uruguay build from the back.
16:00
Suarez looks kind of frantic. I'm not sure if that's a good thing or a bad thing.
15:58
The Saudi players give it some. We're good to go.
15:56
Uruguay's has a long into, I am the resurrection-style, and is a jaunty number with some great shouting at the end. I'm amped.
15:56
Anthem time!
15:55
Out they come!
15:53
The players are tunnelled. Didier Drogba thinks Saudi Uruguay will win.
15:51
The flags of the two countries have been unfurled. Exciting!
15:49
Uruguay, incidentally, will not want to win narrowly here. If they do, they'll probably need to beat Russia to avoid Spain, who you'd expect to outscore Portugal against Iran and Morocco. And, wondrous though Ronaldo is, you'd rather try stopping him than get mugged off by the entire Spain team.
15:47
You may have been wondering...
15:44
Last time I was in the area, Uruguay was play to go for cheap minidisc players. Maybe it still is.
15:42
If Saudi can play as well at they played in friendlies against Italy and Germany, then they can give Uruguay some aggravation this afternoon. It's hard to see how they can improve as much as they'd need to, given how awful they were last week, but as we learn time and again, football doesn't work like that.
15:40
In the stands, though, things are warming up nicely.
15:35
Looking at the way the teams are likely to play, Uruguay will set up in their usual 4-4-2, and look to put the ball in the box for their strikers, while Saudi will look to flood the midfield and slow the game down with lots of short passes. I'll level with you: I'm not certain we're going to see a classic here.
15:29
15:27
So if Uruguay win this, they go through with Russia; the final game will then determine who wins the group. If they draw, then Saudi will have to beat Egypt and hope Uruguay lose to Russia, with a goal-swing of four.
15:24
Uruguay, meanwhile, make changes in wide midfeld: Out go Nandez and Arrascaeta, in come Sanchez and Rodriguez.
15:15
So, Saudi Arabia make four changes from the team that lost to Russia so miserably: Alowais replaces Abdullah in goal, in defence Omar loses out to Ali, Yahia is replaced in midfield by Hatan, and in attack, Fahad takes the place of Alsahlawi.
15:09
And for those less fluent in Arabic than I...