Group A - Uruguay

Group A

South Africa

Mexico

Uruguay

France

Nickname: La Celeste (The Sky Blue) or La Celeste Olimpica (The Olympic Sky Blue)

Colors: light blue, black, white

Current World Ranking: 19

Manager: Oscar Tabarez – First coached the team to the 1990 World Cup and into the final 16. This year he’s realistic and looking first just to get out of the Group stage, saying that the team owes it to their country’s rich soccer tradition to play their best.

History: To be honest, I didn’t know shit about the Uruguayan National Team. In fact, I didn’t know they’d won two World Cups until I started doing research for this. It’s safe to say that the early success they enjoyed on the international stage is many decades and many players behind them. This current squad barely qualified for he Finals after finishing 5^th in the CONMEBOL Confederation then winning a 2-game playoff against Costa Rica for the final spot in the tournament. So, to say that they’re grateful to be here is an understatement.

But to understand what soccer means to Uruguay, and to get an idea of how they may perform in the World Cup, you need not look at their international record. In fact, all you need to do is look at what is perhaps the bitterest rivalry in all of sports – the one that exists between Uruguay and their next-door neighbors, Argentina.

The two countries have faced off 176 times dating back to 1889 and the bitter differences between the two soccer programs couldn’t possibly be in greater contrast to the near symmetry of the neighboring nations. While Uruguay won the first two world cups (the first over Argentina), they’ve only qualified for 2 tournaments since 1990. Argentina, on the other hand has a qualifying streak that dates back 40 years. Argentina holds the edge in head-to-head matches, 80-53, but each country has a distinct advantage when the games are played on their home soil.

They play at least once a year in an international “friendly” match, or in some sort of competitive match like World Cup Qualifying, in what is known as el clasico rioplatense, or the derby of the River Plates. In 1905 the British tea baron, Sir Thomas Lipton, added a dash of intrigue to what was already an intense rivalry by introducing the now famous Lipton Cup trophy to the winning nation. The matches were so insane that on seven different occasions they actually played two games simultaneously, one in each country, to prevent problems from fans traveling from one country to the other.

If the tensions on the pitch weren’t high enough, political tensions off the pitch have made up for it. For several years the main bridge between the two countries was closed to traffic over a dispute involving paper factories that Uruguay wanted to build on the river. In fact, the bridge remained closed to everyone except when the two teams played soccer. Only then were fans allowed to cross.

In the 1955 derby Argentina’s Norberto Conde came onto the pitch as a substitute with his team leading 5-1. He asked one of the Uruguayan players, “Hey mate, any idea what the score is?” Next thing he knew he was waking up in the hospital.

At the most recent qualifying game between the two teams held in the 50,000 seat Centenario Stadium in Montevideo, Uruguay, described as the Coliseum of soccer, which was built for the first World Cup in 1930, the 45,000 Uruguayan fans whistled through the entire Argentinean national anthem while the 5,000 visitors sang through a minute of silence for six Uruguayan soldiers that had been killed in Haiti a week earlier. Had Uruguay won that game they would have automatically qualified for the Cup and forced Argentina into a playoff game against Costa Rica. As it was, they lost and they were the ones to go into the playoff.

Uruguay and Argentina play a very similar style of soccer that includes fancy dribbling, quick passing and also plenty of deceit, diving, tough tackling, and more than their share of trash talking; anything to gain an advantage and get in the head of their opponents. Fans of the teams love that style of play. Opponents will be driven mad by it.

As mentioned, Uruguay has enjoyed very little international success in the past few decades but that has done nothing to temper this rivalry, which often brings out the best in both teams, so consider this: Argentina is likely to win group B. Uruguay could very well finish as runners-up in Group A. If that happens, the two teams will face off in the Round of 16. So go ahead and circle the date of June 27 on your calendar right now because if that happens, don’t be the least bit surprised to see the heavens part and the earth’s crust open up because God and the Devil will have front row seats for this one game as it will be an epic display of all that is both glorious and hideous in the sport of soccer. Expect a good match… full of cards and controversy.

Players: Overall this is a very young squad with just a few veterans.

Diego Lugano: Hard as nails central defender who captains the squad. Born in 1980, he’s known for his tough play as well as his ability to get forward and make something happen on the offensive end. He plays his club ball in Turkey.

Diego Forlan: Born in 1979, Forlan is a striker currently playing for Atletico Madrid in the Spanish La Liga. He debuted for Uruguay in the 2002 World Cup and scored one goal, though Uruguay didn’t advance to the Knockout stage. He’s been a fairly prolific scorer for the team, having recently netted a hat trick against Peru in qualifying. Interesting side note – his wife is Argentinean.

Luis Suarez: Just 23, this young striker already has 25 caps to his name and is proving to be a lethal striking partner to Diego Forlan. After only his second season with his club team, Ajax in Holland, he was named the team’s captain.

Prediction: On paper France should win Group A, Mexico should be second and Uruguay third. But all of these teams struggled through qualification plus they’ll be playing on South Africa’s home turf and the host nation almost always advances, that's why this group is so unpredictable. If the prospect of facing Argentina in the second round isn’t enough to inspire the Uruguayan team then they may not qualify out of this group.