Uruguay are the proud two time World Cup winners. They won the inaugural competition which they hosted in 1930 and again in 1950. They have also won the Copa America an incredible 14 times. Such success is staggering for such a small nation who are by far the smallest country ever to win football’s biggest prize. They qualified for this tournament the hard way and will be looking to add further memories to their glorious history.
Their first title came after a 4-2 win over Argentina in 1930. They boycotted the next two tournaments and didn’t play again until 1950. Here they shocked the world by defeating hosts Brazil 2-1 to become champions. It was even more galling for Brazil because due to the group format of the tournament, they only needed a draw to lift the crown on home soil. Semi finals appearances came for the Uruguayans in 1954 where they lost 4-2 to Hungary and 1970 when they were defeated 3-1 by the magnificent Brazilian outfit. Since then however, they have qualified four more times and have not made it past the second round with two group eliminations. They are no longer the great footballing nation they once were, but they should be a threat to their group opponents when they travel to South Africa.
Uruguay had their moments during the qualifying campaign with the highlights being a 5-0 win over Bolivia and a 6-0 win over Peru. They did suffer an embarrassing 4-0 home loss to Brazil but besides this, most of their defeats were narrow which is a tribute to their tenacity. They eventually scraped into a playoff spot, finishing one point ahead of Ecuador after the Ecuadorians lost their final game while Uruguay were losing their to Argentina. They two legged playoff against Costa Rica was a tight affair but Uruguay eventually got over the line with a 2-1 aggregate victory.
They have some well known players such as tough defender Martin Caceres who plays for Italian giants Juventus. While they tend to be involved in a lot of tight matches, they do have a pair of strikers capable of coming up with a match winning goal. Atletico Madrid’s Diego Forlan and Botafogo’s Sebastian Abreu have excellent international records with over fifty goals between them for their country. They have been drawn in Group A with France, Mexico and South Africa. While it looks like Uruguay may not be able to get through on paper, their ability to grind opponents down could prove crucial, especially against the aging French side. It seems likely that they will be going home after the group stage, but it would be unwise to completely rule Uruguay out of making the knockout stages.