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A to Z of WORLD CUP SOUTH AFRICA 2010 - Uruguay
URUGUAY:
For a nation of its size, a mere 3 million people, Uruguay has a World Cup record that is the envy of many, much larger nations. They have won the trophy twice (1930 and 1950) and also have two semi-final appearances (1954 and 1970) to their credit.
Sadly the bulk of their previous 10 showings at the Finals are but a distant memory for most supporters. They failed to qualify in 1994, 1998 and 2006 whilst the 2002 competition saw them eliminated at the end of Round 1.
South Africa will be the Uruguayans’ 11th World Cup qualification. Due largely to their pretty dismal home record against decent opposition (Brazil, Argentina and Chile), La Celeste (The Sky Blue) finished 5th in the qualifying group of 10. This condemned them to their almost customary fare of a play-off.
Costa Rica were the opposition this time around. With a 1-0 away win under their belts, the Uruguayans nearly threw it away in Montevideo, but a Sebastian Abreu goal gave them a 1-1 draw and a 2-1 aggregate overall: passage to South Africa had been secured!
There the team will be coached by Oscar Washington Tabarez, now in his second stint, having taken the side to the last 16 in Italy 1990. The 62 year old, known locally as El Maestro, is a man of few words but much hard work. In his time he has coached Penarol, Boca Juniors and AC Milan. He was reappointed Head Coach in 2006 after the side failed to qualify for Germany.
La Celeste will be captained by the authoritative figure of Diego Lugano (Fenerbahce), a blond centre-half at ease in defence or in the opponents’ penalty box. Breaking the mould of Uruguayan midfield bruisers will be Napoli’s Walter Gargano. His job will be to provide the bullets for one of the most fearsome strike partnerships at the tournament.
Diego Forlan has been in excellent scoring form for Athletico Madrid all season and you can get odds of 66/1 with Coral on his winning the Golden Boot. He will play alongside Luis Suarez who, after a mere two years in Amsterdam, has taken over the captaincy of Ajax. They have 33 international goals between them, including 12 in the qualifying round.
Uruguay, ranked 18th by FIFA, has been drawn in Group A alongside hosts South Africa, France and Mexico. They are 7/2 with Bet365 to win Group A, and 11/10 (to reach the last 16) with William Hill. A quarter-final place beckons at 15/4 with Sportingbet and a semi-final spot with bwin at 18/1. If La Celeste do reach the heavenly heights and make it to the Final, you can odds of 125/1, again from bwin, that they will get their hands on the World Cup for the third time.
Posted: Tuesday, June 8th, 2010 @ 10:06 pm by Mark
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