England faced a formidable match on the last leg of their South American tour when they took on the current World Champions, Uruguay. Having won the trophy in 1950 they were now eagerly building a side to defend it in Switzerland the following year and emphasised their power.

England were desperately unlucky before the match. After the Chile game many of the party were struck down by stomach upsets and some of the players looked barely fit enough to play. Nevertheless they battled bravely and to only lose by the odd goal in three was no disgrace.

Uruguay took the lead after 27 minutes. Abbadie cut in from the right wing to fire low, hard and accurately from 20 yards leaving Gil Merrick well beaten. The crowd went wild with delight and firworks were let off all around the stadium, a frighteningly new experience for some of the younger players of this England team.

The England team was always struggling and never really got going. Nat Lofthouse, especially, was a pale shadow of his normal self. Having said that England did have their moments. Tommy Taylor and Tom Finney almost got through and Uruguay occasionally had to hang on desperately to their lead. England had no luck at all especially when both Lofthouse and Ivor Broadis hit the inside of the Uruguayans' upright with shots that deserved a better reward.

In the 60th minute, Uruguay stretched their lead. Cabrera, out on left, centred perfectly for Míguez to head wide of the despairing Merrick. Five minutes later Abbadie missed a sitter, shooting over from close range.

At this stage Uruguay were in control, continually beating England for possession. But all credit to the tiring visitors as they refused to give up and they gained some deserved consolation in the last minute when Taylor pulled a goal back.
 

World champions Uruguay turned on an exhibition against the old masters, and might have trebled their score but for being over elaborate with dazzling approach play. Abbadie gave Uruguay the lead in the twenty-seventh minute, and clever centre-forward Míguez made it 2-0 on the hour. Nat Lofthouse and Ivor Broadis struck the woodwork and Tommy Taylor scored in the closing moments after an Alf Ramsey shot had been blocked. It was a spirited fight back by England after they had struggled to hold the world champions in a one-sided first half. Míguez, a master of ball control and as crafty as a monkey, led the entire England defence a dance. Billy Wright, winning his 50^th cap, played him as well as any defender could do, but several times was left tackling his shadow.
  

Source Notes

TheFA.com
Original newspaper reports
Rothman's Yearbooks
RSSSF Uruguay
Mike Payne's England: The Complete Post-War Record (Breedon Books Publishing Company, Derby, U.K., 1993)
Norman Giller, Football Author
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CG