Group 1: England v Uruguay 11th July 1966

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The 1966 WC got off to a regal opening at Wembley stadium last night. But it was scarcely a royal night for England as Uruguay, the champions of 1930 and 1950 but no longer highly regarded in the world scale, held them to a draw. As an entertainment it could scarcely have been worth the £85,000 taken from the pockets of a 75,000 crowd. Yet it seemed to set the pattern of what we may expect in the days ahead in this modern world game where the great thing it seems is not to lose. The flags unfurled, the march-past over. the ceremonial speech by the Queen completed, it became more and more ominously clear within the first quarter of an hour that England were about to spend the clear summer's night bashing their heads against a powerfully knit, cleverly organised Uruguayan defensive wall - a Uruguayan side that one second could muster eight or nine men inside their penalty area and the next break out into counter-attack like some expanding concertina. True they were superb technicians and masters of the ball. these South Americans. They covered and shadow-boxed, as it were, riding and feinting against every thrust that England could produce. Every English player certainly fought and bestirred himself to the last breath-none more so than Ball, Bobby Charlton and the full backs.Wilson and Cohen, who time after time streamed down the wings trying to make the overlap that would at last create a breakthrough. Individuallv one could not truly fault any of them. But the breakthrough never came and all too soon, as a team, they showed their anxiety as they tried to pick their way through the contracting, congealing defence quickly gathered before them. It was not that the Uruguayans themselves evcr really looked like the victors. Only twice in the whole match can I remember them bringing a flutter inside the English penalty area. Once early on when a violent shot at long range from the edge of the area by Cortes was turned aside by Banks for a corner with a flying dive; and once early in the second half when a fine tackle by Jack Charlton put an end to a dangerous thrusting dribble by Perez. Yet if Uruguay never looked like winning nor did England. Some, of course, may still say that they will win the war in the end: but certainly in terms of tactics they did not win this first battle in Group 1 of the tournament. In the struggle somehow was reflected something of the larger agony that is afflicting football. We in Britain were the creators of the game, but somehow or other we must lead the pack and readjust in the future the balance between science and spectacle. All this last night might have been highly scientific but it was certainly no spectacle. And somehow England must help to halt the drift to this defensive philosophy. ENGLAND: Gordon BANKS, George COHEN, Ramon WILSON, Nobby STILES, Jack CHARLTON, Bobby MOORE, Alan BALL, Jimmy GREAVES, Bobby CHARLTON, John CONNELLY, Roger HUNT Source: Times Archive