World Cup 2018: Egypt 0-1 Uruguay; 4 key battles that decided the game

#2 Ahmed Fathy vs Martin Caceres

The Egypt captain hardly deserved to end up on the losing side

Asked to captain the side in the absence of legendary keeper El-Hadary, Ahmed Fathy more than did his job and a draw would have been fitting for the performance he delivered. Unfortunately, he had to end up on the losing side.

The right-back hardly put a step wrong in both offence and defence and was one of the main reasons why Suarez spent most of the match looking irritated. Fathy cut out anything that dared to enter from his side of the pitch, and gave no space whatsoever for the Uruguayans to operate.

Martin Caceres, the left back for Uruguay, found himself often facing Fathy and naturally did not have the greatest of games. And on the rare occasions, he did manage to cross the ball in, there was too much weight on it and sailed past Cavani waiting in the middle.

To his credit, Caceres was solid in defence but that can be attributed more to the Egyptians being clueless in attack. At 31, Caceres is found wanting in pace at times, and it will be interesting to see if he will start the next game.

Fathy vs Caceres - stats