Granted, the match itself is highly unlikely to go down as a World Cup classic, but Uruguay’s narrow 1-0 win over Egypt did produce one of the moments of the 2018 tournament so far.
We are of course talking about Oscar Tabarez, Uruguay’s craggy 71-year-old manager, and his heart-warmingly pure reaction to watching his side pilfer a last-ditch victory in their Group A opener.
The oldest manager at the World Cup, Tabarez was diasgnosed with Guillain-Barre syndrome – a disease that severely affects mobility and causes chronic neuropathic pain – a couple of years ago.
With all that in mind, it was enough to titivate Pies’ dry, cynical old cockles to see the Uruguayan patriarch leaping out of his seat and, after locating his crutch, making his way out into the technical area to celebrate with his staff…
Terrific stuff.
Jose Gimenez’s 91st-minute header was enough to win the match for the Celeste, who made heavy work of breaking down a very staunch (and Mohamed Salah-less) Egypt team, with Luis Suarez guilty of squandering a glut of opportunities in the meantime.