Many observers were citing Uruguay as possible dark horses for a World Cup victory this year, and part of that belief comes from the strength of their striking duo. Luis Suarez might get a lot of the plaudits from the UK media in particular, but it was his partner Edinson Cavani who did the damage to Portugal on Saturday with a brace to win Uruguay the tie.
His first goal was brilliant enough – he played a beautiful cross-field pass to Suarez who controlled it expertly before crossing and somehow finding the incoming Cavani, who headed past Rui Patricio to give Uruguay the lead in the first ten minutes – but his second strike was even better.
After Portugal equalised through a Pepe header ten minutes into the second half, Uruguay came forward again. Rodrigo Bentancur collected a stray header from a Portuguese defender and played the ball across the edge of the box to Cavani, who found himself in enough space on the right-hand side of the box to bend a right-footed, first-time shot around Patricio and into the net.
It was a special goal worthy of winning any World Cup tie, and one can only hope that it doesn’t turn out to be Cavani’s last contribution to the tournament, as he was substituted with a knock a little later in the half.