Atletico Madrid star José Giménez was the hero as his 90th minute header from a set-piece gave the South Americans all three points.

Uruguay, semifinalist at the 2010 World Cup, seemed to be having a frustrating afternoon due to a series of outstanding saves from Egypt goalkeeper Elshenawy.

In a game where Egypt left their star man Salah on the bench, Elshenawy stole the show for the African side and despite a late Uruguay goal, the Egyptian goalkeeper did enough to secure the man of the match award.

Just before the goal, Elshenawy had kept out every shot that came his way as he twice produced brilliant saves to deny Uruguay’s duo of Luis Suarez and Edinson Cavani.

The first of his save came in the 46th minute as Cavani set up Suarez who from close range missed after his shot was kept out by the goalkeeper.

Just before then, Suarez could have given Uruguay the lead in the first half as he missed an absolute sitter after hitting the side net from close range.

He was again denied by Elshenawy in the 56th minute as the goalkeeper rushed out of his line to claim the ball when Suarez looked almost certain to score.

Few minutes later, it was time for Elshenawy to deny Cavani as the Egyptian 27-year-old goalkeeper showed great reflex to keep out a goal bound volley from the PSG star.

It was all Uruguay as Cavani struck the cross bar in the 87th minute from a freekick after Elshenawy again managed to push the ball to the bar with his finger tips.

But Uruguay finally broke the deadlock right in the 90th minute as Jose Gimenez rose above everyone else to power a header into the net from a free-kick.

However, it was surprising to see thousands of seats empty in the stadium despite the prospect of seeing two of the biggest stars in the tournament go head-to-head in the shape of Mo Salah and Luis Suarez.

The clash between two of Russia’s rivals to reach the knock-out stages failed to capture the imagination of football fans in the country, as FIFA’s decision to charge as much as £300-a-seat came back to haunt them.

The victory sees Uruguay move up to three point and in second position in Group A behind Russia.