YEKATERINBURG, Russia, June 15 (Xinhua) -- Uruguay tied 0-0 with Egypt in the first half of their World Cup group A match at the 35,000-seat Yekaterinburg Arena stadium here on Friday.
It is the second game of the tournament, following hosts Russia who beat Saudi Arabia 5-0 in the opening match on Thursday.
To the Egyptians' disappointment, their national hero Mohamed Salah wasn't able to make it to the starting line-up after suffering from a shoulder injury from Liverpool's Champions League final loss to Real Madrid on May 26. Issam al-Hadary, the 45-year-old legendary goalkeeper of Egypt, didn't enter the start list either.
In the Uruguayan side, two ace strikers: Luis Suarez and Edison Cavani, were responsible for most of the attacks in the front, posing a major threat to their Egyptian components.
In the eighth minute, the highly-spirited Cavani took a speculative blast but was denied by the diving Mohamed El-Shenawy who replaced al-Hadary in the starting lineup for Egypt. Two minutes later, Egypt's Trezeget repaid by taking the blast low but was saved by the alert Fernando Muslera.
Both sides wasted a few chances for the rest of the time in the first half, and the most threatening moment came from Suarez in the 23rd minute when he took advantage of the chaos in front of the goalline after Uruguay opened a corner but sent the ball into the side net.
Friday's match marked the third appearance of Egypt at football's showpiece event after a 28-year absence, while two-time World Cup winners Uruguay finished fourth in the 2010 tournament and exited at the Round of 16 in Brazil in 2014.
According to FIFA, Egypt is ranked 45th in the world, while Uruguay is ranked 14th. The most recent encounter between the two sides was a friendly 12 years ago, in which Uruguay swept Egypt 2-0.
