Stuani gives Uruguay pre-World Cup win against Northern Ireland
Northern Ireland showed England they have little to fear from a Uruguay side lacking Luis Suarez as they battled to a 1-0 defeat in Montevideo.
With 78 places separating the teams in the FIFA rankings and Michael O'Neill's side far from full strength, La Celeste were expected to roll the visitors over with ease en route to the World Cup.
Instead, they edged - and pocketed the little known Copa Antel trophy - thanks to a solitary second-half strike from substitute Christian Stuani as Northern Ireland stood firm against their opponents' weight of possession.
Edinson Cavani is a star in his own right at Paris St Germain and Diego Forlan is a proven goalscorer but neither man could replicate the kind of magic Suarez brings to so many occasions.
On this evidence, England would fancy themselves to keep both shackled when they meet in Brazil next month.
Either might still have scored had Roy Carroll not produced a wonderful double save in the 32nd minute and the veteran keeper played a big part in keeping the score down.
But there were impressive showings across the board for O'Neill's men, with Doncaster's Luke McCullough among those to emerge in credit on a tough debut assignment.
The game settled quickly into a pattern, Uruguay seeing plenty of the ball and rolling it up and down looking for Northern Ireland to lose their shape.
It was an offer the visitors were not eager to accept and O'Neill's men kept tight and marked close.
McCullough, thrust in at the age of just 20 and not yet a regular at Doncaster, had a nervy moment early on when he slipped attempting to turn Christian Rodriguez but otherwise heads were calm.
Southampton's Gaston Ramirez, who had blazed over under pressure from Chris Baird in the 13th minute, was first to threaten the stalemate, powering past a couple of green shirts before dragging a low shot wide of the far post.
Northern Ireland were hardly set up to counter with numbers and when Niall McGinn did get the chance to make a break he was halted abruptly by Diego Lugano's sliding tackle.
Walter Gargano betrayed a little impatience as the half progressed at the same pace, chancing his arm with a hopeful 30-yarder then going in the referee's book for a late challenge on Sammy Clingan.
Uruguay upped the ante in the 15 minutes before the break but could not make the breakthrough.
Sebastian Coates might have done better when he rose highest to meet Forlan's corner, but it was Carroll who did most to preserve the scoreline.
When Oliver Norwood's loose pass left his side short at the back, Cavani looked certain to score with a placed shot towards the bottom corner.
But Carroll's full-length dive pushed it into the right channel, where Forlan was waiting to pounce.
His follow-up was destined to creep inside the post from a tight angle, but Carroll raced back and clawed to safety.
It cost the 36-year-old a nasty collision with the woodwork but it was a price well worth paying.
He stood firm again when Cavani unfurled an elegant scissor-kick, though an offside flag would have saved Northern Ireland anyway.
Carroll almost saw his good work undone on the stroke of half-time when he lost sight of a swerving shot from Forlan, but an instinctive right glove spared his blushes.
Uruguay replaced Coates and Forlan with Jose Gimenez and Stuani and it was the latter who grabbed the opener after 62 minutes.
There had been warning signs, the busy Corry Evans and Clingan both booked attempting to firefight in the middle of the park.
The goal came when Rodriguez skipped towards the byline and cut back towards Cavani.
He took a heavy first touch but made amends by finding Stuani at the near post, where he poked home ahead of Baird.
The goal settled Uruguay as they began to hold court further up the pitch, though a string of substitutions provided regular breaks in play.
Amongst the changes, Dundee United's Paul Paton and Liverpool's Ryan McLaughlin became the second and third debutants of the night for Northern Ireland. McLaughlin, a right-back by trade, was deployed in an unusually advanced role and had one half-chance at glory which he skied.
Abel Hernandez came closer than most to turning possession into a second goal, glancing just wide from eight yards after a perfectly-timed run, but the margin was a fair one for both sides.
Forlan is willing Suarez back to full fitness, even if it costs him his own starting place at the World Cup.
"I want the whole team to be healthy and ready for the World Cup so I want Luis to be back and ready for that," Forlan said. "That would be much better for all of us. Luis came to the training ground in the morning to see us.
"We haven't seen him for a week so it was nice to have him around again. He told us he is in good shape and recovering well and his treatment has been good.
"Everybody wants him to be ready."
Forlan was replaced at half-time against Northern Ireland, having been denied twice by former Old Trafford colleague Roy Carroll, but believes the workout was a good primer for facing England.
"It was good preparation because Northern Ireland play in the same style as England," he said.
"The England game is not more important for me because every game in a World Cup is just as important, but it will be a tough one."
Northern Ireland manager Michael O'Neill has tipped England to beat Uruguay in the World Cup despite his side's narrowly defeat in Montevideo.
The Three Lions face Uruguay in Sao Paulo on June 19 and Roy Hodgson will be poring over Northern Ireland's 1-0 defeat at Estadio Centenario for pointers.
O'Neill was proud of his team's battling effort, in front of almost 60,000 expectant fans, and saw enough to tip an England success.
"Having seen Uruguay, I would expect England to beat them in Brazil," O'Neill said.
"I think if England play with pace in the forward areas they will cause them real problems. I'll be honest, I think you can get at them.
"It might be different when Diego Godin comes back but if they can get isolated situations, particularly against Diego Lugano, they'll get some joy.
"I also think they'll get joy through the middle of the pitch with the quality they have and I think Wayne Rooney playing off Daniel Sturridge would give Uruguay a problem.
"This is a good team but it's heavily dependent on the front two, if you nullify them you can get opportunities against them."
O'Neill revealed he had not been in contact with Hodgson prior to the fixture, but would be happy share any observations if the call was made.
"I haven't spoken to Roy in the build-up but if he wanted to call me or my assistant Billy McKinley, who he worked with at Fulham, there'd be no problem there.
"But I'm sure he doesn't need to, they will have had someone here and there'll be a dossier 250 pages thick."
O'Neill, who has been denied the services of senior men such as Jonny Evans, Gareth McAuley, Chris Brunt and Martin Paterson in South America, was quick to praise his own side's efforts.
Northern Ireland lie 78 places behind Uruguay in the FIFA rankings but exceeded expectations for much of the contest and even handed debuts to Luke McCullough, Paul Paton and Ryan McLaughlin.
"The most pleasing thing for me is the lads really seemed to enjoy the challenge," he said. "I thought they were excellent and at times our possession of the ball was superb.
"Steven Davis was immense - as good a performance as he's had under me - and Sammy Clingan and Oliver Norwood too.
"The lads on debut were a credit as well and right through the team the application was first rate.
"It's an extremely young squad and we couldn't ask any more on the night against top-class opponents who are heading to the World Cup."
