Uruguay vs. Costa Rica, 2014 World Cup: Stunning turnaround from the Ticos

It’s obviously possible to overstate the way in which team shapes interact on paper, and any analysis relying on formation notation runs the risk of being simplistic to an absurd degree. Still, there’s a reason 3-5-2 and its varients are often considered a direct counter to the sort of 4-4-2 Uruguay field: because it works.

Over the course of the match, the only real joy Uruguay found was on set pieces. With three first-half free kicks, the favourites created three big chances: Diego Godin had a goal ruled out for offside following a Cavani flick, Cavani shanked a volley wide after an awful attempted clearance and Diego Lugano won the penalty that led to their only goal. Otherwise, the attacking threat posed by the 2010 semifinalists was totally shut down.

Which led to this photo from the opposite angle:

Which led to fun with Photoshop:

Applause for Costa Rica just pouring it on Uruguay, and applause for this fan’s unabashed, goo-mouthed weeping after the third goal:

Uruguay’s issues in midfield showed up early, but they nearly went ahead 15 minutes in anyway. Edinson Cavani flicked on a Diego Forlán free kick, and the ball was scrambled over the line by the flailing Diego Godin. Fortunately for Costa Rica, the linesman ruled the strike out for offside.

Just before the stroke of halftime, it looked as though a huge deflection was going to put the Ticos in an even bigger hole, but Navas pulled off the save of the tournament thus far, racing back to miraculously tip Forlán’s shot over the crossbar.

This has been a pretty stunning second half beatdown. Uruguay haven’t even been in the game. Costa Rica have been spectacular.

It’s a good thing he’s on Costa Rica and not Uruguay, since Uruguay’s jerseys are way too tight to fit an entire ball under.

He busted out everyone’s favorite classic celebration.

The goal visibly stunned Uruguay, but no one expected them to simply fall apart. They fell apart. Oscar Duarte’s go-ahead goal came on an absolutely brilliant header.

Now that we’ve got that out of the way, important life thing: Diego Lugano’s face.

Earlier, Lugano did this. He’s having the best game in the history of the sport.

Uruguay have tended to line up in a pretty meat-and-potatoes 4-4-2, which allows them to operate with width while deploying their two world-class strikers. Simple. They’re not an overly-attacking side, and had a series of major scares in qualifying, but they should have more than enough to get the business done against Costa Rica.

Costa Rica, meanwhile, tend to play a more 4-4-1 or 4-3-3-ish shape, and like to sit back and attack on the counter using the pace from their forwards. They also have a fine goalkeeper to aid their defence, and if they’re well-organised enough, they can certainly frustrate Uruguay while getting at their opponents’ slow, cumbersome backline. This is not going to be a sure thing.