World Cup Group D: Suarez takes centre stage in battle of the champions

Group D is the only one at the World Cup to contain three former world champions in England, Italy and Uruguay. Costa Rica complete the line-up.

The tone will be set by the opening game between Steven Gerrard's England and Gianluigi Buffon's Italy in the heat and humidity of Manaus on Saturday.

Given the presence in the group of reigning South American champions Uruguay, spearheaded by the prolific Luis Suarez, defeat for either side could prove fatal.

England and Italy last met at the quarter-finals of the 2012 European Championship, when Cesare Prandelli's side won on penalties after bossing proceedings in a 0-0 draw.

Goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon and midfield metronome Andrea Pirlo remain from the Italy team that tasted glory at the 2006 World Cup in Germany, but there is uncertainty over the team's attacking configuration.

Playmaker Riccardo Montolivo has been ruled out with a broken leg, while the absence of Giuseppe Rossi due to fitness concerns means that Mario Balotelli may have to shoulder much of the goal-scoring burden.

"We know we're in a particularly tough group," says Prandelli, whose side habitually line up in a 4-3-1-2 formation but can operate with a three-man defence.

"Our first objective is to qualify, and then we'll see."

Like Italy, England finished unbeaten in European qualifying, but optimism was tempered by back-to-back friendly defeats at home to Chile and Germany last November.

England manager Roy Hodgson has selected only six players with previous World Cup experience and his squad has a youthful edge.

Winger Raheem Sterling, 19, could start against Italy after a breakthrough season with Liverpool, while 20-year-old Everton midfielder Ross Barkley will also hope to make an impact.

Given the conditions and the expectation that Italy will dominate possession in Manaus, Hodgson must decide whether to keep faith with a tried-and-tested 4-2-3-1 system or pack central midfield with a 4-3-3.

"There are a lot of very mobile, athletic, pacy players in the team," says Hodgson.

"I don't want to be quoted as saying, 'We're going to play a high pressing game,' because that automatically assumes every time their goalkeeper rolls the ball out to someone level with him, 100 yards from our goal, that we're going to fly our back-line up to the halfway line."

Uruguay's chances of success may rest on the fitness of star striker Suarez, who will lead the line alongside Paris Saint-Germain's Edinson Cavani if he recovers from knee surgery in time.

Suarez's spectacular season for Liverpool went a long way to restoring his tarnished image among English fans but the Uruguayan will again be public enemy No. 1 for a game that could decide World Cup Group D.

The fitness or otherwise of Suarez, who underwent keyhole surgery on a knee injury on May 22, could decide whether Uruguay can match their 2010 achievement of reaching the semi-finals.

Suarez was key to their progress in every sense, teaming up impressively with Diego Forlan in attack and preventing a certain defeat by handling Stephen Appiah's header on the line in the last minute of extra-time in their quarter-final classic against Ghana.

Vilified around the world and certainly throughout Africa, Suarez was consequently banned from the semi-finals but returned home to a hero's welcome from his compatriots.

His club persona is similarly schizophrenic with bans for biting and racism and a history of theatrical diving making him an easy target for opposition fans and touchline philosophers while his extraordinary talent, work rate and team ethic make him hugely popular among his own.

This season the talent has overcome the problems and, with his 31 league goals helping Liverpool to their best campaign for years, he was voted England's player of the season both by his fellow professionals and the country's journalists.

Suarez, who scored 11 goals in Uruguay's qualifying campaign, is likely to miss their opener against Costa Rica on Saturday but all the indications are that he will be ready to face England in Sao Paulo on June 19.

"You only know for sure as you progress and see how the knee reacts," he said. "When I go on to the pitch I want to go out there ready."

Tabarez will hope he has enough firepower from Forlan and Edinson Cavani to get off to a winning start against Costa Rica, piling the pressure on the two European heavyweights who also meet on Saturday, in Manaus.

 

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