Uruguay beat Saudi Arabia to enter pre-quarters
Rostov-on-Don (Russia), June 20 : Veteran striker Luis Suarez marked his 100th international with a winning goal as Uruguay defeated Saudi Arabia 1-0 in a Group A clash here on Wednesday to enter the pre-quarterfinals of the FIFA World Cup.
Suarez's 23rd-minute strike from close range decided the match as Saudi Arabia lost their second consecutive loss and joined Egypt in getting eliminated. Following the win, Uruguay and hosts Russia have entered the second round from the Group A.
Uruguay and Saudi Arabia had contrasting fortunes in their opening matches. While Uruguay defeated Egypt 1-0, the Asian outfit suffered a morale-shattering 0-5 defeat to hosts Russia.
For Saudi Arabia, the match at the Rostov Arena here was their first in World Cup history against a South American side. And they put up an improved performance, though having to bear another loss.
The match had a barren first 20 minutes, lacking real intensity and potential scoring chances but the South Americans clearly showed that they are here to dominate.
Uruguay got ahead in the 23rd minute. Goalkeeper Mohammed Al-Owais came off his line, stretched out an arm to punch clear a corner from Carlos Sanchez from the left and missed it completely. It dropped kindly for FC Barcelona striker Suarez at the far post and he made no mistake with a left-foot tap-in as he scored his 52nd international goal.
After the goal, the match intensified with both teams, especially Saudi Arabia showing good football, at both ends.
Three minutes after conceding the lead, Hattan Bahabri cut in from the right and shot with his left foot, forcing Uruguay goalkeeper Fernando Muslera to tip over his own cross-bar.
Couple of minutes later, Bahbir again got an opportunity to pull the Saudis level. Uruguay defender Diego Godin misjudged the flight of a cross from the left and the ball dropped for Bahbir, whose stab inside the Uruguay penalty area sent the ball over the cross-bar.
Bahbir continued to impress but his finishing and those of his teammates, lacked precision as Uruguay held a 1-0 lead at half-time.
After the break, Uruguay went about their business of controlling play, with their players keeping the ball possession and ping the ball about in midfield before getting forward, even as Saudi Arabia lacked the firepower. The Uruguayan midfield trio of Rodrigo Bentancur, Sanchez and Matias Vecino dominated.
Uruguay head coach Oscar Tabarez felt that the pace of the game was slowing down and decided to infuse fresh energy in the form of midfielder Lucas Torreira and left-back Diego Laxalt, who substituted for Vecino and Cristian Rodriguez respectively.
The first chance in the second half fell to Uruguay in the 62nd minute when Martin Caceres played a long ball from way behind for Edinson Cavani, who floated in a cross towards Carlos Sanchez at the far post. The header from Sanchez, however, sailed high over the cross-bar.
Later, Saudi Arabia showed some desperation but they lacked that final pass to make a decisive move inside the Uruguay box. Inexperience was clearly visible from the way the Saudis played. And the equaliser didn't arrive, sending Uruguay to the Round-of-16.
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PM has no words now on rupee depreciation but let us remind him about 2013: Jairam Ramesh
New Delhi, Dec 30: The Congress on Monday attacked the government over depreciation in the value of the rupee against the US dollar and said Prime Minister Narendra Modi has nothing to say now even though he had resorted to personal attacks against former prime minister Manmohan Singh when the Indian currency had fallen during the UPA term.
AICC general secretary, communications, Jairam Ramesh also recalled the words of Modi in 2013 when he had claimed that UPA leadership has become directionless and are neither worried about the country's defence nor the value of its currency, but are "only worried about saving their chair".
"The then-biological CM of Gujarat had run a loud campaign against the depreciation of the rupee vis-a-vis the dollar in 2014 even resorting to personal attacks on Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to score political points. On 16 May, 2014, the rupee closed at Rs 58.58 per USD.
"Ten years later, the rupee has touched an all time-low of 85.27 per USD. The INR has achieved the distinction of being the worst-performing currency in Asia," the Congress general secretary said in a post on X.
"Remember all of this depreciation is despite the Government and RBI's de facto currency peg - as the Prime Minister's former Chief Economic Advisor has pointed out in recent weeks. The RBI has used billions of dollars of our foreign exchange reserves to stabilise the rupee, to no effect. How many billions have been used?" Ramesh asked.
"The non-biological Prime Minister has no words now but let us remind him of his words from 2013 - 'Crises come, but if during a crisis if the leadership is directionless, hopeless, then the crisis becomes very grave… It is our country’s misfortune that the rulers in Delhi are neither worried about the country’s defence nor about the falling value of the rupee…If they are worried, it is only about saving their chair'," the Congress leader said in his post.
The rupee dropped 4 paise to 85.52 (provisional) against the US dollar in early trade on Monday, as dollar demand from importers, foreign fund outflows and a muted trend in domestic equities dented investor sentiments.
Forex traders said the rupee witnessed heavy volatility on Friday as well on Monday amid significant dollar demand linked to the expiry of December currency futures and maturing positions in the outstanding forwards.
On Friday, the rupee registered the steepest fall in almost two years to hit its lifetime intra-day low of 85.80 before a likely central bank intervention helped recover some of its losses and settled 21 paise lower at a record low of 85.48 against the US dollar.
The then-biological CM of Gujarat had run a loud campaign against the depreciation of the rupee vis-a-vis the dollar in 2014, even resorting to personal attacks on Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to score political points. On 16 May, 2014, the rupee closed at Rs 58.58 per USD. Ten…
— Jairam Ramesh (@Jairam_Ramesh) December 30, 2024
