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While two — and possibly one more — of Juventus' South Americans rolled in the knockout stages of the World Cup nearly 24 hours ago, the same can't be said for the lone Bianconero playing on Thursday.
Martin Cáceres and Uruguay will be entering today's showdown with England fighting for the World Cup lives. It's not any different for the £300k-per-week striker known by the simple name of Wayne Rooney and the rest of his English teammates, who lost to Italy in their first Group D game.
Depending on how things go between Italy and Costa Rica this time tomorrow, Uruguay and England could either see their tournaments basically be over or head into the final group stage game with a good chance to get to the knockout stages.
Not exactly ideal situations, but it doesn't mean they enter today's game totally out of it by any means. And when it comes to Cáceres and his Uruguayan teammates, they don't want to end up being the second team of the 2010 final four to be dumped out of the World Cup before the group stages are even over.
In conclusion: Don't you want your Juventus players to do well at the World Cup? So vote Cáceres. vote Uruguay.
Unless you're rooting for England, of course.
THURSDAY'S SCHEDULE
Group C: Colombia vs. Ivory Coast: 1 p.m. local time, 12 p.m. on the East Coast, 9 a.m. on the West Coast
SB Nation preview: Goals expected as Colombia meet Ivory Coast
Group D: Uruguay vs. England: 4 p.m. local time, 3 p.m. on the East Coast, 12 p.m. on the West Coast
SB Nation preview: England have enough to beat an aging Uruguay
Group C: Japan vs. Greece: 7 p.m. local time, 6 p.m. on the East Coast, 3 p.m. on the West Coast
SB Nation preview: Japan must be more proactive against Greece
