Slowly, slowly, it had been coming. After 80 minutes in which almost nothing had happened, other than the non-appearance of Mohamed Salah, Uruguay had begun to increase the pressure.

Edinson Cavani had a volley pawed away by Ahmed El-Shenawy then smacked a free-kick against the post before, with a minute to go, José María Giménez rose to meet a right-wing corner with a powerful header and Uruguay, for the first time since 1970, had won their opening game at a World Cup.

“The paths to scoring a goal are infinite,” Oscar Tabárez, Uruguay’s experienced manager, said, “and they’re all valid.”

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He is right and in retrospect this will probably be regarded as a masterpiece of patience and game management. Perhaps it was but the game for much of its length had seemed to conform to the stereotype of modern international football. The better teams can defend and hold their shape and very few have the cohesion to attack with the pace or precision to break them down. That was exacerbated by a pitch that seemed to have been insufficiently watered. As in the early stages of the opening game, before Saudi Arabia’s implosion, there was a sense that the ball was sticking, reducing further the pace of attacks.

The result was slightly scrappy, underwhelming football, short of fluidity or goalmouth action – and, correspondingly, a premium on the sort of dynamic attacking player who can transform games. And the brightest of those this season, was missing. After all the excitement of Thursday, and the overblown response to one line from Héctor Cúper at a press conference that was replete with equivocation, Salah did not start.

He had seemed tentative performing some basic windmill exercises in training and his only involvement was to elicit a great roar from the Egypt fans as he trotted out to warm up and then another cheer – and a chorus of happy birthday (he turned 26 on Friday) – when he was shown on big screens midway through the first half.

“Yesterday we were quite certain during the training session that he would be able to play,” Cúper said. “Afterwards he was examined by the doctors and there was some doubt that, if he fell or was hit by another player, he would suffer another injury. So we decided not to take that risk because we want him in top form for the games against Russia and Saudi Arabia.”

There are questions about Uruguay’s great attacking talents, too. Edinson Cavani and Luis Suárez are 31 and there is perhaps a sense that they owe Uruguay a big World Cup. Cavani, operating in wide roles, had little impact in either 2010 or 2014 and compounded the image of himself as a player uncomfortable in major tournaments with his red card against Chile in the quarter-final of the 2015 Copa América, albeit after significant digital provocation from Gonzalo Jara. Suárez had, at least, contributed five goals in 2010 and 2014, but his two most memorable acts at World Cups remain a handball and a bite.

Although Cavani became increasingly influential as the game went on, it was difficult to avoid the conclusion that neither benefited from the service they received.

Uruguay showed themselves in qualifying to be a more fluent, more progressive side than the battlers of old, the emergence of Rodrigo Bentancur, Matías Vecino and Giorgian De Arrascaeta in midfield testament to the long-term youth development initiated by Tabárez when he returned to the national job in 2006.

There was little sign of their ability against Egypt; rather Uruguay, perhaps stymied by the pitch, dealt in a series of slightly aimless long balls that seemed to play into the hands of a well-organised and muscular defence.

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Suárez, having somehow scuffed wide from six yards in the first half, was then twice denied by El-Shenawy in one-on-ones in the second. Tabárez did not seem overly concerned. “You are asking me what happened to Suárez because he didn’t play very well,” he said.

“I don’t know what happened. I will not speculate. I’ve seen Messi, Pelé, Maradona not having a good day, not playing to potential in matches. This is not a sin. We showed great attitude, a lot of solidarity. Some of the players didn’t play as well as they normally can but I’m sure the tiny issues will be fine-tuned.”

It was not pretty from Uruguay but, as so often before, it proved to be enough. Tabárez may aspire to more, may have Che Guevara’s quote about hardening yourself without losing your tenderness printed on the wall of his house in Montevideo, but he still demands victory. “We either die,” he said, “or we kill.”