Well, I don’t know much about the pre-match preparation of Team GB or Uruguay in this game, but my preparation consisted mostly of being glued to BBC 1 whilst cheering on Michael Jamieson as he came incredibly close to emulating the successes of Bradley Wiggins in the cycling and the sculling duo of Helen Glover and Heather Stanning. But this is a football blog, and while Great Britain have suddenly started to win medals in what has been an enthralling Olympic Games so far, I must keep my loyalty to writing about football, and football only. Despite having only been recognised as a ‘team’ for five games, Team GB have been playing remarkably well, if you consider that many of these players have probably not been in the same team previously, and the unity has been exceptional if you care to ignore the fact that the Welsh players have decided to snub the national anthem. The one concerning fact for many is the omnipotent empty seats; a sight which has sickened many an armchair viewer and angst-riddled Twitter users*, and before you go saying “Well Reuben, I don’t see you doing much about it other than ranting and writing about it in your insignificant post that’ll probably be read by no more than 12 people, I guess that puts you in that category,” I have done something about it, I actually have tickets to the bronze medal match.+

The most impressive talents on the pitch for the Brits, quite unsurprisingly, were ones we have generally accepted to be household names, with captain Craig Bellamy posing a threat from time to time, but that wasn’t enough to contribute a huge amount to the overall entertainment factor of the first half. Uruguay had a few chances of their own to speak of through Sebastian Coates and an ambitious drive that blazed into row Z from Gaston Ramirez. However, a great link-up passage between Swansea players Scott Sinclair and Joe Allen, with Sinclair making a mazy run to pick out Allen in the box, who turned superbly to find Daniel Sturridge, who found the net with ease. Not much to talk about, but Britain led at the break nevertheless.

The second half started with plenty of gusto, or at least more than the first half did, but the greatest chance Team GB were gifted with was ruled out by an offside flag, and that was able to spare the blushes of the unfortunate Sturridge, who somehow found the post from barely a yard out. Again, Uruguay were not finished with the British side and Luis Suarez required at least five defenders to smother his efforts not long after, including the impressive Jack Butland, who has proved his critics (me) wrong by being quite good between the sticks. Suarez later thought it would be greatly beneficial to his goalscoring quest if he was to control the ball with his hands on numerous occasions; another thing that makes me quake with rage from the comfort of my living room furniture.

It wasn’t over until the dying stages, as Britain suffered one last onslaught on goal from Uruguay through a thunderous shot to the bar from Ramirez and a free kick from Suarez that had to be caught by Butland to prevent any last gasp equaliser. Not the most thrilling of displays, but Team GB will surely be thrilled to have qualified as Group A winners, and Uruguay will be kicking themselves having now failed to qualify for the next round. Bring on South Korea…

*This is a guess as I personally don’t use Twitter and am reluctant to do so.

+I am not gloating; I am merely filling out what would otherwise be a shockingly poor match report with information that may be of slight interest to you.