A last minute winner from Jose Gimenez has handed Uruguay victory in their opening match of the 2018 World Cup as an Egypt side lacking Mohamed Salah fell to a heartbreaking 1-0 defeat.
Uruguay were far from their best throughout at the Ekeratinburg Arena and it looked as though a series of wasted chances from record scorer Luis Suarez would prove costly for the Group A favourites.
The most anticipated team news of the opening round of World Cup fixtures saw Salah only named on the Egypt bench three weeks after damaging his shoulder for Liverpool in the Champions League final, and he stayed there throughout as manager Hector Cuper chose not to risk him.
However, Gimenez’s towering late header – which came just moments after Edinson Cavani had hit the post with a free kick – rescued all three points for the South Americans to take them level with hosts Russia at the top of the standings.
