Uruguay versus Costa Rica will be a classic Latin American match up with a second round ticket on the line. Both teams bring quality possession play to the table but the edge has to go to Uruguay as a few key players will more than likely make the difference for Uruguay in this Group D matchup.
Uruguay Head Coach Oscar Tabarez has already stated that Luis Suarez will not be a starter against Costa Rica but may look to have him come off the bench. As many folks know, Suarez is coming off a knee operation and is delicate armor right now so Uruguay needs to play its cards right in determining how early they can bring him in as they are going to needs his services in its other Group D matches if they are to advance onto the second round.
In place of the missing Suarez, Uruguay will start with Diego Forlan who will partner Paris St-Germain's Edinson Cavani in attack. These two very experienced high quality players will be a handful for any team in the Cup so expect to see plenty of goal scoring punch from Uruguay as these two savvy pros perform on center stage.
Costa Rica on the other hand will be depending heavily on its quality goalkeeper in Keylor Navosr. Navas who plays in Spain for Levante. Keylor will need to be in top form to keep the magic alive for the Ticos.
At the end of the day, this is a win for Uruguay on paper but as we saw with Spain after its 5-1 loss to the Netherlands, anything can happen and we will see what type of mind set Costa Rica comes into the match with and how badly they want it.
My Prediction: Uruguay 2 Costa Rica 1
Betting Odds: (bovada.lv)
Uruguay: -1 (-130) Moneyline -260
Costa Rica: +1 (+110) Moneyline +850
Draw+350
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