Uruguay World Cup Squad Preview

Written by Tony Concannon Monday, 31 May 2010 14:37

World Cup Squad Previews

 Uruguay are by far the smallest nation in terms of population ever to have won the World Cup. And they've done it twice, in 1930 and 1950. With a population of less than four million, Uruguay have constantly punched above their weight in both South American and world football. To put their achievements into perspective, Argentina are the second smallest nation to have won a World Cup, and they have a population of 40 million.    

Anyway, Uruguay have qualified again but not with great style. They were the model of inconsistency, winning six, drawing six and losing six in the South American zone. The Sky Blues then needed a play-off against Costa Rica, and sneaked through 2-1 on aggregate, winning 1-0 away and scraping a 1-1 draw in Montevideo in the second leg.

Coach Oscar Washington Tabarez has only picked 26 players in his preliminary squad, perhaps highlighting the limited number of world class performers at his disposal. He will be resting his hopes on the twin strike force of Atletico Madrid's Diego Forlan and Luis Suarez of Ajax. Both players have an amazing goalscoring record in domestic football, but (like the Uruguay team in general) have failed to convert their performances to the world stage. Forlan has 66 goals in 102 games for Atletico while Suarez has hit a renarkable 74 gosls in only 97 appearances for Ajax. However, they only average a goal every three games for their national side. Veteran Sebastian Abreu has a better strike rate for his country, 30 in 56 games.

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The midfield and defence lack any big names, but centre halves Martin Caceres of Juventus and skipper Diego Lugano are both decent players. Lugano, who plays his club football in Turkey with Galatasaray, is not afraid to get stuck in. Watch out for a red card if things start going wrong!
Uruguay are in Group A, alongside hosts South Africa, Mexico and France. They have every chance of getting out of the group but that would be the most they can expect. This group is the most open of them all and I think it's possible that any two teams could progress to the knockout stages. Yes, even South Africa. I can see a lot of draws in this group so just one win could make all the difference. It all depends on Forlan and Suarez.

Uruguay squad

Goalkeepers: Fernando Muslera (Lazio), Juan-Guillermo Castillo (Cali), Martin Silva (Defensor Sporting);

Defenders: Diego Lugano (Fenerbahce), Diego Godin (Villarreal), Andres Scotti (Colo Colo), Jorge Fucile (Porto), Martin Caceres (Juventus), Mauricio Victorino (Universidad de Chile), Maximiliano Pereira (Benfica)

Midfielders: Walter Gargano (Napoli), Egidio Arevalo-Rios (Penarol), Sebastian Eguren (AIK Stockholm), Diego Perez (Monaco), Alvaro Pereira (Porto), Alvaro Fernandez (Universidad de Chile), Jorge Rodriguez (River Plate), Alvaro Gonzalez (Nacional), Ignacio Gonzalez (Valencia), Nicolas Lodeiro (Ajax)

Forwards: Sebastian Fernandez (Banfield), Luis Suarez (Ajax), Diego Forlan (Atletico Madrid), Sebastian Abreu (Botafogo), Edinson Cavani (Palermo), Jorge Martinez (Catania).

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