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Egypt put in a heroic performance, but yet came out with nothing to show for it, as a 90th-minute header from Jose Maria Gimenez gave the South Americans the full points in their opening World Cup fixture.
Egypt were without their star player Mohamed Salah, who hadn't yet recovered enough from his shoulder injury suffered in the UEFA Champions League final last month.
We take a look at what went wrong for the Egyptians.
#1 Poor decisions in the final third
Egypt were spirited, and they showed confidence and swagger in their attacking play. The likes of Trezeguet, Abdallah El Said and Amr Warda got into promising positions several times, but they just could not find that quality in the crucial moments.
Diego Godin and Gimenez play for Atletico Madrid, where they have been drilled into putting their bodies on the line and defending their penalty area, and it was such quality that made life difficult for the Egyptians, who were found wanting.
They brought on Kahraba in the second half to bring some directness and pace to their attack, but while he did add pace, there was little by way of composure or quality on the ball, which made life really easy for the Uruguayan defence.
There was also no ability to pierce the Uruguayans from the midfield. Tarek Hamed in the first half, and Sam Morsy in the second did a fabulous job as destroyers, but the creativity was completely missing.
Mohamed Elneny had an off-day, and El Said was guilty of trying too many things when he might have been better served to keep things simple on the pitch.
The full-backs, Ahmed Fathy and Mohamed Abdel Shafy were absolutely fantastic in running up and down the pitch, and with their defensive duties, but they were found wanting with their crossing.
With the Pharaohs now needing at least 4 points to have a shot at qualification for the knockout stages, their attack could really do with some cutting edge.
#2 No outlet in the second half
With the quality that Uruguay possess, it was always going to be a long second half for Egypt, and so it proved.
The injections of Cristian Rodriguez and Carlos Sanchez gave the South Americans some much-needed impetus in midfield, and from then on, they put Egypt on the sword.
But in their push for a winner, Uruguay were leaving spaces to be exploited for Egypt, when they moved forward. Marwan Mohsen tried to use his physicality, but Godin and Gimenez were always up to the task, which meant that Hector Cuper looked for an alternate method to pierce Uruguay, bringing on the pace of Kahraba.
But Kahraba showed the gulf in class between him and the Uruguayan defenders. He never made runs in behind or any runs at all, that confused the Uruguayan defenders.
That is where Egypt could really have done with Mohamed Salah. Among all the brilliant things he offers on the pitch, Salah's ability on the counter-attack is the most devastating aspect of his game, and with Uruguay affording Egypt space in behind their defence towards the end of the second half, it is safe to say that the country did miss its footballing king.
#3 Mohamed Elneny has an off-day
In the absence of Salah, it was really up to Elneny to take up the mantle of being the talisman and lead Egypt on their biggest footballing day in 28 years.
Instead, it seemed like the pressure of the occasion got to the Arsenal man, who struggled to impose himself on a young Uruguayan midfield.
What will frustrate Cuper the most about Elneny's performance is that it came against a youthful Uruguayan midfield, that looked nervous and over-awed at times, by the occasion.
But Elneny too seemed to be caught up in a tangle of nerves. His pressing was all over the place, allowing himself to be easily bypassed by the South Americans.
But the most disappointing aspect of that performance was his passing. The number of times Elneny had a simple pass to play, and yet gave possession away must have been frustrating for an Egypt fan to watch.
Do you think Egypt can qualify for the knockout stage from here? Tell us in the comments below!
