World Cup Group A, Yekaterinburg - Egypt 0 Uruguay 1 (Gimenez 90)

Jose Gimenez scored a late winner for Uruguay as they overcame a succession of missed chances by Luis Suarez to beat Egypt 1-0.

It was a disappointing first half for Uruguay, as the team struggled to make any inroads. Looking slower than one might have come to expect, they were quick to lose possession to a plucky Egypt side.

The South Americans had some decent chances in the first half, though, but Edinson Cavani and Luis Suarez both looked well under par compared to their usual selves.

Uruguay came back stronger after the break, but still lacked the sparkle of Suarez’s considerable talents better observed in his season at Barcelona.

Egypt had some good chances and while the couldn't capitalise on those, they did well to hold out until the 90th minute goal by Gimenez, and if they felt cheated not to take a point at the end of the match, it would be hard not to sympathise with them.
Talking Point – Where was Luis Suarez?
Going into the tournament, Uruguay were seen as something of a dark horse, with the potential to contend for the trophy, and with the likes of Cavani and Suarez in their side, there can be no doubting the South Americans pose a risk. But Luis Suarez’s dazzling form was nowhere to be seen today, in a slow performance that saw him repeatedly lose possession.
Man of the Match – Mohamed El-Shenawy
El-Shenawy made a strong start despite being the national side’s second choice keeper, played after their first choice keeper injured his knee in April. In a lacklustre game, he made a number of saves and stood out for the Pharaohs.
Player Ratings
Egypt: El-Shenawy 8, Fathy 6, Gabr 6, Hegazi 6, Shafy 6; Elneny 7, Hamed 6, Warda 7, El Said 6, Trezeguet 7; Mohsen 6. Subs: Morsy, Kahraba, Sobhi.

Uruguay: Mulera 7, Varela 6, Gimenez 7, Godin 8, Caceres 6, Nandez 6, Bantancur 6, Vecino 7, de Arrascaeta 6, Suarez 6, Cavani 7. Subs: Sanchez 6, Rodriguez 6, Torreira 6.

Key Moments
8’ SHOT! Cavani strikes and it's a test for the keeper, one he manages to pass this time round. He may not be so lucky later.

46’ SHOT! Suarez is keen to score for his country now and runs at the goal in the opening moments of the second half. A right-footed strike in the box meets with the keeper who runs out to block it. A good block it was too.

74’ CHANCE! Suarez again runs into the box but he's just a little bit too slow and the keeper runs right at him to remove the threat. 17 minutes to go and we are still 0-0. you really feel Egypt deserve at least a point from this match.

83’ SHOT! Cracking save by Egypt's keeper as Suarez passes the ball to Cavani who makes a wonderful strike at the goal. El-Shenawy possibly having the best game today.

88’ MISS! Cavani's free kick hits the post and that might have been their final chance to take the three points today.
GOAL! Sanchez plays a free kick into the box where Gimenez waits to head the ball straight into the goal. So sad for Egypt.
Key Stat
This match is Uruguay’s first win in a World Cup opener since 1970.

World Cup Group B, Saint Petersburg Stadium - Morocco 0 Iran 1 (Bouhaddouz OG 90+5')

A bullet header from Aziz Bouhaddouz, in the wrong end, gave Iran a dramatic victory over Morocco in the 95th minute - and their first win at the World Cup since 1998.

Morocco dominated the majority of proceedings as expected and they had a great chance early on when there was some chaotic pinball in the box but somehow the ball stayed out.

However Iran were dangerous on the counter and Morocco keeper Munir Mohand Mohamedi had to be alert to make a smart double save to keep the score at 0-0.
Late on in the second-half Iran's Alireza Beiranvand got down well to tip away a fierce effort from Hakim Ziyech whilst there was an injury worry when Nordin Amrabat suffered a nasty head injury and had to be taken off.

Just as the game looked to be filtering out to a draw a corner was swung in and Bouhaddouz powered a header past his own goalkeeper to the delight of Iran fans and hand the nation only their second-ever win at the World Cup finals.
TALKING POINT
No sleepless nights for Spain, Portugal

Iran put slight pressure on Spain and Portugal by taking the three points, but in reality, it’s a dream scenario for the two European heavyweights in Group B, given that all the talk before kick-off was how Morocco could really threaten to upset the world order. However, they faded all too quickly, and paid the price late on. They’ll have to produce a mighty shock now to even pick up a point.

MAN OF THE MATCH
Ehsan Hajsafi (Iran) - A difficult decision from what was ultimately a turgid affair. However, credit must go to Iran’s defence, as they silenced Morocco - particularly in the second half - and came out with a memorable win.

Hajsafi gets the nod as not only did help his side to a clean sheet after dealing with Nordin Amrabat all day out wide, but he sent the cross in that led to the calamitous own goal.
PLAYER RATINGS
Morocco: Munir 6, Amrabat 6, Benatia 6, Saïss 6, Achraf 5, El Ahmadi 5, Belhanda 5, Harit 6, Boussoufa 5, Ziyech 6, El Kaabi 6. Subs: S. Amrabat 5, Bouhaddouz 3, Da Costa N/A.

Iran: Beiranvand 7, Rezaeian 6, Pouraliganji 6, Cheshmi 7, Hajsafi 7, Ebrahimi 6, Masoud 6, Jahanbakhsh 6, Ansarifard 6, Amiri 6, Azmoun 6. Subs: Taremi 6, Montazeri 6, Ghoddos 6.

KEY MOMENTS
20’ - BIG CHANCE! How have Morocco not scored?! It's pinball in the Iran box, and it's Belhanda who sees his shot blocked before Beiranvand who gets down well to deny Benatia before it's cleared for a corner.

31’ - SAVE! Nice play from Harit, who receives the ball from Achraf before darting into the area, but his curled, low effort is wall saved by Beiranvand.

43’ - SAVE! Messi he is not!! Azmoun is played through on goal... He hesitates a little and takes the ball a tad too wide, and he's off balance as he strikes low on goal, with Munir getting down to keep it out.

81’ - SAVE! The Morocco fans reawaken as their side finally come close in this second half. It falls for Ziyech on the edge of the area, but Beiranvand flies to his right to tip the effort away.

90’ - GOAAAAAAALLLL! In the fifth minute of added time. And I think it's an own goal!!!

Unai Emery's Arsenal will take on champions Manchester City on the opening weekend of the 2018/19 Premier League season. The new Arsenal boss will have his first league game in charge of the club at home at the Emirates Stadium before a trip to face Chelsea at Stamford Bridge. Emery, Arsenal's first new manager since Arsene Wenger took charge in 1996, will at least have a fairly kind festive period with games against Huddersfield, Southampton, Burnley and Brighton. Manchester United, who finished a distant second to City, host Leicester, while Liverpool welcome West Ham and Chelsea travel to Huddersfield. Liverpool, who will look to build on their Champions League final appearance, open their campaign at home to the Hammers in what will be Manuel Pellegrini's first competitive game in charge. Tottenham, meanwhile, will have their first four games away from home, beginning with Newcastle, with their 'home' match against Fulham switched to Craven Cottage. The club's first home game will come against Liverpool on September 15. Tottenham played all their home games at Wembley last season while their new 62,000-seater stadium was being constructed but work is still ongoing and the club has sought permission to return to the national stadium for one game. "As you will note there is a home fixture scheduled for the weekend of 18/19 August 2018 and this match will be played as a home fixture at Wembley Stadium," the club's website said. "It was always our intention to seek permission to play the first few games away. In discussions with our coaching staff the preference was to break what would otherwise have been a continuous run of away games with one game at what was effectively our 'home' stadium last season." As for the promoted sides, Wolves start with a home clash against Everton and Fulham will host Crystal Palace. Neil Warnock's Cardiff start on the road at Bournemouth. Opening weekend fixtures Bournemouth v Cardiff Arsenal v Man City Fulham v Palace Huddersfield v Chelsea Liverpool v West Ham Man Utd v Leicester Newcastle v Tottenham Southampton v Burnley Watford v Brighton Wolves v Everton Final day fixtures Brighton v Manchester City Burnley v Arsenal Crystal Palace v Bournemouth Fulham v Newcastle United Leicester City v Chelsea Liverpool v Wolves Manchester United v Cardiff City Southampton v Huddersfield Town Tottenham Hotspur v Everton Watford v West Ham United

Kylian Mbappe has eased fears of a potential injury after he was forced to leave training following a clash with Adil Rami - four days before France's World Cup opener.

The Paris Saint-Germain forward went to ground after Rami’s challenge, and remained there for several minutes as medical staff assessed the injury before leaving the session.
The incident left Rami red-faced, with France opening up their World Cup campaign in Russia on Saturday, when they play Australia at 11am BST.
However, Mbappe has since taken to Twitter to ease any concerns."I'm fine," he said. "It's just a hit so it doesn't matter but thanks for your messages. PS. And let my friend Rami [know] it was not nasty."

England defender Kyle Walker is ready to sacrifice his preferred right-back spot and play as a centre-half at his first World Cup, the 28-year-old has said.

A key member of Manchester City's title-winning team last season, Walker has been deployed as a right-sided centre-back in a back-three by manager Gareth Southgate and is likely to retain the spot against Tunisia in their Group G opener on Monday.

"I have been playing professionally since I was 18 at right-back, so to go to your first World Cup and probably not play in your preferred position... is... well, not disappointing but a little bit of a step back," Walker told British media.

"I have to move on from it... as long as the manager feels it is going to benefit the team, then why not?"
Walker, who was an integral part of a City defence that conceded the fewest goals in the Premier League last season, outlined the importance of reading the game as a centre-half.

"It is about reading the game, I don't want to leave space at the back to get on a counter-attack," he added.

"I'm a defender first and foremost, and if I'm playing right centre-half I am even more of a defender than the wing-backs."
England will also face Panama (June 24) and Belgium (June 28) in the group stage.

England attacking midfielder Dele Alli has promised to not fall foul of new FIFA regulations introduced for the World Cup which allow referees to punish players retrospectively for infringements during a match.

The new rules, backed by Video Assistant Referee (VAR) technology, could lead to players being punished at the interval for foul play that went unnoticed during the first half.

Alli, who has come under scrutiny for previous incidents of hot-headed behaviour at Tottenham Hotspur, remains confident he will avoid letting his temper get the better of him in Russia.

"When you're playing the games, you are focused on trying to help the team as much as you can," the 22-year-old told reporters.

"You don't want to put yourself in a position where you could jeopardise everything and lose the game for your team and your country. I'll just be myself, the way I always am."
Alli served a one-match ban for making an obscene middle-finger gesture during England's qualifier against Slovakia last year.

But the midfielder, who despite his reputation has only ever been sent off once in three seasons for Spurs (a Europa League tie), insists he has learned from his mistakes.

"I want to play with passion and I want to play with hunger in every game I play," Alli added.

"I've made mistakes in the earlier part of my career, but you have to make mistakes in order to learn from them. If you look at my record, I've definitely learned from my mistakes."

England kick off their World Cup campaign against Tunisia on June 18. Panama and Belgium are the other teams in Group G.

Mo Salah appeared with the rest of Egypt squad at a final training session in Cairo before flying to Russia on Sunday for the country's first World Cup appearance in 28 years.

The 25-year-old has not played since injuring his right shoulder in Liverpool's Champions League final defeat to Real Madrid last month and is considered a doubt for Egypt's Group A opener against Uruguay on Friday.

Salah, who scored 44 goals for Liverpool this season, spent around 45 minutes walking round Cairo's national stadium in front of around 2,000 supporters but did not train with the rest of the squad.

Salah posed for selfies and grinned alongside the national team's mascot, a green "Nile crocodile", and was then pictured on board the plane which took manager Hector Cuper's squad to their base in Grozny.