Sao Paulo, June 19: Former champions Uruguay and England will take on each other in a perform-or-perish match in Group D at the Arena de So Paulo here on Thursday. Both teams have lost their opening matches.

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For Roy Hodgson's team, the form of Wayne Rooney will be key. The Manchester United striker is expected to start again despite facing criticism for his performance against Italy in the previous match. There were also talks that Rooney was training with the reserve players. Rooney said he was just putting an extra effort in practice.

FIFA RANKINGS: URUGUAY 7, ENGLAND 10

England, the champions of 1966, lost 1-2 to Italy in the previous match. Liverpool's Daniel Sturridge scored the equalizer for the team off a fine pass from Rooney before Mario Balotelli settled it for the Azzurris. Raheem Sterling also caught the eyes with his performance in the match.

England have no injury concerns and the good news Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain also trained with the team for some time.

Uruguay, the champions of 1930 and 1950, suffered a shocking 1-3 defeat against Costa Rica who were seen as the underdogs in a group of death before the beginning of the tournament and will be desperate to remain in the reckoning.

Both teams will look for their first points after losing their opening matches

Star player Luis Suarez, the Liverpool striker, will return to the side for the England clash. Coach Oscar Tabarez will also look up to senior players Diego Forlan, the star of the 2010 edition, and Edinson Cavani. The latter scored his team's only goal against the Costa Ricans in their previous game. Uruguay will, however, miss the service of defender Max Pereira.

The two teams have met each other in three friendly matches since 1990 with each winning a match. One game was drawn. The only time these two teams have met in a World Cup was in 1966 when the match ended in a goalless draw.

The match will begin at 12.30 am IST.

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