Uruguay, most probably sans Luis Suarez, will look to get their FIFA World Cup 2014 campaign off to a winning start when they take on Costa Rica in their Group D clash at the Estadio Castelao in in Fortaleza.
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The South Americans have been drawn in a difficult Group D, with England and Italy also looking to progress into the knockout rounds. Costa Rica will be the team that all the other three sides will fancy picking up three points against, and Uruguay will look to do just that come Saturday.
"We have the potential to go far in the tournament, but we don't particularly like or want the tag of favourites," Uruguay coach Oscar Tabarez said. "The first game of a World Cup is always the most difficult. A good result will release the pressure and allows us to look forward."
The build-up to Uruguay's tilt at World Cup glory has been dominated by the injury to Luis Suarez, with the premier striker undergoing knee surgery just a few weeks before the start of the biggest football tournament in the world.
Suarez is not expected to feature against Costa Rica, at least from the start, but Tabarez is optimistic about the progress being made by Uruguay's star man. "We're just about to go out and train on the pitch now and you never know what will happen," Tabarez said. "We are increasing [Suarez's] pace of recovery and up until now there have been no glitches.
"Yesterday afternoon Suarez did the most important thing in training, which is play football. We still have one day to go. We don't want to jump the gun. We have prepared not to have him, but it would be wonderful to have him. We have to be very careful."
Tabarez will not want to risk Suarez against Costa Rica, with much bigger games against England and Italy looming. Costa Rica, on the other hand, will look to Suarez's likely absence as an opportunity to etch their own names in history by creating a massive upset and with it turning Group D predictions upside down.
In Bryan Ruiz they have a player with plenty of experience playing in big European leagues, including the English Premier League with Fulham. Costa Rica also have the exciting Joel Campbell in their lineup. The Arsenal youngster is capable of the spectacular, and Costa Rica will certainly be hoping he pulls one of this rabbits out of the hat against Uruguay.
"Everyone is talking about the other teams in the group," Costa Rica captain Ruiz told FIFA's official website. "They're looking at us like we're lucky to be here, like we're here to be beaten. That's fine. This takes the pressure off. It's good for us. They can have all the pressure.
"You want to play the best teams. That's how you know it's the World Cup. We're playing against three world champions. What's better than that?
"We don't sit back, we break forward. This is a new Costa Rica. Look out, because we can surprise a lot of people."
Expected lineups: Uruguay: Muslera; Pereira, Lugano, Godin, Caceres; Rios, Lodeiro, Rodriguez; Stuani, Cavani, Forlan.
Costa Rica: Navas; Gamboa, Umana, Gonzalez, Acosta, Diaz; Bolanos, Borges, Tejeda; Ruiz, Campbell.
Prediction: 2-0 to Uruguay
