Uruguay

A famous Uruguayan saying goes: "Other countries have their history and Uruguay has its football."

When La Celeste takes the field against Costa Rica tomorrow night, Uruguay will continue to write its prestigious football history with a trip to the 2010 World Cup on the line. For the third time in succession, Uruguay finished fifth in South American World Cup Qualifying, putting them in a playoff. 

After beating Australia in 2002 and losing on penalties in 2006, Uruguay was drawn against CONCACAF's Costa Rica this year. Should Uruguay and France make it through their respective play offs, all the past World Cup Champions will be in South Africa, a welcome sight for any fan of the game.

Captain Diego Lugano's goal after Costa Rica failed to deal with a corner in Tegucigalpa was enough to give Uruguay a vital one goal lead heading back to Montevideo and the historic Centenario Stadium. 

The stadium was built for the 1930 World Cup, which coincided with the 100th year of Uruguayan independence, hence the name Centenario. 

At the time of the inaugural World Cup, Uruguay was considered one of, if not the greatest team in the world. 

After winning the Olympic Gold in 1924 in Paris and 1928 in Amsterdam, Uruguay were clear favorites as hosts, while only neighbors Argentina posed a real threat.

The tournament went according to plan, and Argentina met Uruguay in the final, a rematch of the 1928 Olympic Gold Medal Match, when a replay was needed to settle the affair after the two nations drew one-one. 

Uruguay edged Argentina two-one in the replay thanks to a late goal from Hector Scarone and returned home as heroes. 

The first World Cup Final was equally as dramatic. Argentina got out to a half time lead, but Uruguay answered with three second half goals to win four to two and become World Champions.

Despite being champions, Uruguay refused to enter the World Cup in 1934 or 1938 and World War II wiped out the Cup during the 1940's.

Uruguay entered the first post World War II World Cup in 1950, where they again reached the final, this time against hosts Brazil.

In those days, the Final was actually a final group phase, and since Brazil had won both of their final round games, the hosts only needed a draw to win the tournament. 

In front of 200,000 fans at the Maracana stadium, Uruguay pulled off the impossible by beating Brazil with two late goals from Juan Schiaffino and Alcides Ghiggia. The result is still considered one of the greatest upsets of all time and is known as the Maracanazo . 

After finishing fourth in 1954, Uruguay faded somewhat into obscurity at the World Cup level, having failed to reach the quarterfinals since (although they did make the second round in 1986 and 1990).  

Uruguay's fantastic record goes beyond World Cups and Olympic Gold Medals. La Celeste has won 14 Copa America's (South America's continental competition) a record equaled by only Argentina. Brazil has only won the tournament eight times.

This time around, the Uruguayans have built a team that is stronger than any they have had in recent memory. 

Despite struggling with goalkeeping and defensive issues early in qualifying, coach Oscar Tabarez has finally settled with Lazio's Fernando Muslera as his number one. 

In front of the young goalkeeper, is captain and hero in the first leg of the Playoff, Diego Lugano. Lugano is the heart and soul of the team, and is one of the most underrated center backs in the game today. His goal against Costa Rica was his fourth in World Cup Qualifying for South Africa 2010. 

Although Lugano is without a doubt the team's inspiration, strikers Diego Forlan and Luis Suarez grab most of the headlines. 

Forlan is one of the most prolific strikers in the world, having won the European Golden Boot twice, most recently last season for Atletico Madrid. One of the few hold overs from Uruguay's disappointing campaign at the 2002 World Cup, Forlan is desperate to return to the world's biggest stage.

His partner up front is Ajax star Luis Suarez, who has been fantastic for his club this season, averaging better than a goal per game so far. 

There have been many ups and downs for Uruguay throughout the brutally long qualifying campaign, but the thought amongst the players and coaches is that they are peaking at the right time.

A win against Costa Rica will give these players a chance to write their own chapter in Uruguay's stunning history. With many top class players plying their trade in Argentina and Europe, Uruguay will be a side all major contenders will want to avoid and neutrals will want to watch.

Uruguay v. Argentina

Wednesday, Oct. 14, 2009,

Centenario, Montevideo, Uruguay

World Cup 2010 Qualifier

Argentina

Martin Palermo could be the saviour of Argentina after his 92nd-minute winner against Peru moved Argentina into fourth place in South America World Cup qualifications.

Two goals in the span of two minutes saw the match swing wildly back and forth before Argentina finally emerged victorious against Peru in an unrelenting downpour of rain at the Monumental Stadium in Buenos Aires.

Still, Diego Maradona knows that there is another mighty task awaiting his side in Wednesday night's Uruguay vs Argentina match.

With the final match of qualifications looming, it is still mathematically feasible that Argentina could miss qualifying for the World Cup Finals in South Africa. Actually, it is a very realistic threat.

Argentina currently sit fourth in the final direct qualification place with no opportunity to advance in the standings. A loss to Uruguay would mean, at very best, Argentina would have to qualify via a playoff.

Shockingly enough, Lionel Messi has been virtually invisible for Argentina in recent weeks. The little magician, who has been lighting Spain on fire with quality performance after quality performance for Barcelona, has somehow lost his way for Maradona, and if ever was a time to rediscover his form, Wednesday would certainly be it.

Uruguay

Uruguay have done well to claw their way back into contention for fourth place, following up a run of four matches without a win by securing back-to-back victories over Colombia and, more impressively, away battling the high altitude in Ecuador.

Uruguay required last minute drama in order to seal three points against Ecuador. Diego Forlan’s 90th-minute penalty proved the difference to give Uruguay’s hopes of reaching South Africa an injection of astronomical proportions.

The victory shot Uruguay past Ecuador in the standings and sets up a fantastic final meeting against Argentina to decide who advances.

Prediction

When the two teams met back in October 2008 in Buenos Aires for the first Argentina vs. Uruguay qualifying fixture, it was Argentina who triumphed 2-1, thanks to goals from Messi and Sergio Aguero.

While gut instinct would suggest Argentina to be the stronger side for this reverse Uruguay vs. Argentina match, their performances for the better part of the last year give real reason to doubt their chances.

The Argentinians will have to be very careful, as Uruguay possess a quality team that could very easily post a victory on Wednesday night and put Argentina's qualification in jeopardy. Forlan, in particular, has been labelled as a danger man, and Argentina must ensure that he does not put the game in Uruguay's favour.

All in all, Argentina should do enough on the night, and a draw should see them through to the 2010 FIFA World Cup competition.

Uruguay vs. Argentina Prediction: Uruguay 2 - Argentina 2

Find the BEST odds and free betting tips for the match at the Uruguay vs Argentina odds and betting page from Sports Betting Review now!

Be sure to read our England vs Belarus preview too for the 2010 World Cup.

World War 2 prevented the World Cup 1942 and 1946 from being held, the World Cup returned in 1950 in Brazil from June 24 to July 16.

Before going through the fourth World Cup in history, do read about the previous World Cups 1930, 1934, and 1938 as well.

As India, Turkey, and Scotland all withdrew, only 13 teams were left in the competition.

The Jules Rimet Cup was used for the first time in World Cup 1950.

England made their first appearance in the World Cup in 1950.

The competition format was changed slightly in 1950 where the group stage system was brought back after 20 years. The 13 countries were then divided into four groups where the group winners would advance into the final group of four teams. No knockout stage was contested in World Cup 1950.

Ademir scored the first goal of the tournament for Brazil against Mexico. He would then continue to score another in Brazil's 4-0 win over Mexico.

Brazil, Spain, Sweden, and Uruguay topped their respective groups and made it through to the final round.

Brazil trashed Sweden 7-1 in their first match with Ademir netting four times as Uruguay were held 2-2 by Spain. Many thought that the host nation would win that World Cup.

Brazil continue their fine form by trashing Spain 6-1 in their second game. Uruguay collected maximum points as well with a 3-2 win over Sweden.

Sweden would then beat Spain 3-1 to finish third.

The final between host nation Brazil and Uruguay in Estádio do Maracanã, Rio de Janeiro attracted a massive 199,954 crowd. Uruguay then made an upset by beating Brazil 2-1 after going down by 1-0.

Uruguay won their second World Cup in history, bringing them level with Italy with two World Cup wins each.

Ademir was the top scorer of the tournament with 8 goals.

A number of 88 goals were scored in the 22 matches played. Brazil scored a quarter of the goals in the tournament, having 22 goals in their pocket.

Be sure to read the coming parts of the series as well.

The World Cup fever will once again spread across the globe as the 19th Fifa World Cup will be held in Africa for the first time in 2010. Next summer's World Cup in South Africa is sure to promise more actions and is also set to give the biggest stage of football a fresh spark.

Therefore, I'll start a series of reliving old World Cup memories; sweet or not so sweet.

We shall then kick-off with the very first World Cup in 1930.

Only 13 teams took part in the first World Cup, which was held from July 13 to July 30. The majority participants were American nations, only four European nations took part. Asia and Africa continents had no representative.

That was due to the cost of travel at that time. Therefore, only France, Yugoslavia, Belgium, and Romania traveled to Uruguay for the prestigious tournament.

The 13 teams were divided into four groups where the group winners would progress into the semi-finals.

The first two World Cup matches took place simultaneously; with France trashing Mexico 4-1 and USA defeating Belgium 3-0.

Lucien Laurent of France scored the very first goal in the history of World Cup.

Argentina, Yugoslavia, Uruguay, and USA topped Groups 1 to 4 respectively and made their ways to the first World Cup knockout stage.

Argentina trashed USA 6-1 in the semi-finals as Uruguay trashed Yugoslavia by the same score to set up a highly anticipated final between the two South American giants.

Uruguay then outclassed Argentina 4-2 three days later in front of their 93000 home fans. Despite leading 2-1 at half-time, Argentina couldn't stop the host nation from putting three past them in the second half.

And so, Uruguay hosted the first World Cup and became the first winner of the prestigious tournament.

Guillermo Stábile was the top scorer of the tournament with 8 goals, including a hat-trick in the group stage.

A total of 70 goals were scored throughout that tournament and 18 matches were played.

Not many nations participated in the first World Cup but it sure is an important event in the World Cup history.

The summary of World Cup 1934 will follow soon.

This past August 2 marked the 13th anniversary of the passing of Obdulio Varela.  Although not a household name around the world, Varela remains one of biggest sports heroes in his native Uruguay.  As with many players  of his era, his deeds are often overlooked and ignored by today's sports media.   If you are not aware of his story, Varela captained the Uruguayan team that defeated Brazil in the final game of the mystical 1950 World Cup held in Brazil, the now legendary "Maracanazo". Varela was the inspiration and driving force that led Uruguay to a come from behind 2-1 victory in front of 200,000 people who had packed the month-old Maracana stadium. 

Varela is not as well know around the world as the two men who scored in that final game, Juan Alberto Schiaffino and Alcides Ghiggia, since both of these men played the majority of their carrers in Italy's Seria A while Vareal remained at Montevideo's Peñarol.  Varela however is still revered in Uruguay, affectionately nicknamed "El Negro Jefe" or the Black Chief due to his dark complexion and dominant personality.  It was this personality that lifted the Uruguay team.  Brazil came into the new stadium brimming with confidence, after dominating the round robin style tournament, they only needed a tie to claim the Jules Rimet cup.  Playing in front of a capacity home crowd, a victory was almost a given. As Brazil took the lead in the early second half on a goal by Friaça, Varela took the ball from the net and ran it to the center line and famously screamed at his teammates “ahora sí, vamos a ganar el partido” ("Now we're going to win the game") and cemented his legacy in the pantheon of legends of football.

Varela's defensive prowess choked the life out of the Brazilian attack and his ball distribution lead to the two goals scored by Schiaffino and Ghiggia.  When the whistle blew the silence was ominous; as Rimet himself, who was in attendance,  put it "The silence was morbid, sometimes too difficult to bear." 

Like many of the footballers of that age, Varela made little money during his playing days and lived a modest life (bordering on poverty) after his retirement but was a beloved and respected figure in his native Uruguay.  He passed away at age 78 on August 2, 1996.

With a devastating loss to Brazil, Uruguay has a tough but manageable road ahead to try to qualify for the 2010 World Cup. Argentina's performance is beginning to show signs of weakness, this Fall qualifications looks to be one of the most entertaining in the world.

Argentina, Colombia, Venezuela, Ecuador, and Uruguay all are within reach of 4th and 5th place, and this race will be exciting to watch!

AWAY GAMES
September 5 vs. Peru (eliminated from WC, URU should WIN, beat them 6-0 before)
October 10 vs. Ecuador (5th place, MUST WIN, Tied URU 0-0, ECU has a tough away match with Chile and Columbia)

HOME GAMES
September 9 vs. Columbia (7th place, Lost to URU 0-1 before, has to play Chile, Paraguay)
October 14 vs. Argentina (4th place, URU lost 2-1 away, ARG may self destruct)

Final 4 game record calculations				W=WIN, T=TIE/DRAW, L=LOSS
	Pts	total pts		result for Uruguay to Advance
WWWW	12	30		GUARANTEED PLAYOFF OR BETTER
WWWT	10	28		GUARANTEED PLAYOFF IF BEATS ECUADOR,  AND ECUADOR DOES NOT WIN all other 3 GAMES
WWWL	9	27		GUARANTEED PLAYOFF IF BEATS ECUADOR, AND ECUADOR DOES NOT WIN all other 3 GAMES
WWTT	8	26		? too complicated,  need 1 or 2 results to predict
WWLT	7	25		? too complicated,  need 1 or 2 results to predict
WWLL	6	24		? too complicated,  need 1 or 2 results to predict
WTTT	6	24		? too complicated,  need 1 or 2 results to predict
WLTT	5	23		? too complicated,  need 1 or 2 results to predict
WLLT	4	22		Ecuador must not win any 4 games LLLL/TTTT, Venezuela/Columbia must not get more than 5 pts
TTTT	4	22		Ecuador must LLLT or LLTT and tie Uruguay, Venezuela/Columbia must not get more than 5 pts
WLLL	3	21		Ecuador must not win any 4 games LLLL/LTTT, Venezuela must not get more than 4 pts
LTTT	3	21		Ecuador must lose 3 games and tie Uruguay LLLT, Venezuela must not get more than 4 pts
LLTT	2	20		OUT
LLLT	1	19		OUT
LLLL	0	18		OUT

Uruguay had not suffered a home defeat at the hands of the Selecao for 33 years.

The Centenario in Uruguay's capital city Montevideo had, up till yesterday, been a safe house, to stave off the onslaughts of the mighty Brazil.

All of this came to a crashing end as a 52,000 strong, mostly Uruguayan crowd, were silenced by a convincing 4-0 Brazil goleada.

Perhaps for the first time ever the cry "Brazil Brazil" gently echoed throughout the Uruguayan capital as Dunga's men made history tearing through Uruguay's defence in methodical fashion while giving up nothing in return.

The zesty Daniel Alves was given a starting chance due to Maicon's injury and he did not waste it. Apart from defending tooth and nail, Dani opened the scoring in the 11th minute with a long range shot which took a strange bounce and slipped by the unfortunate Uruguayan goalkeeper Viera.

The pitch at the Centenario was in a horrendous state for the match. This was probably an attempt by Uruguayan officials to slow down Brazil's free-flowing game but in an ironic twist may have contributed to Brazil's first goal.

Juan managed to then score from a corner rifling in a header which actually came on the second attempt as the Uruguayan keeper saved the first attempt only to see Elano cross the ball in again and Juan make no mistake the second time.

Uruguay playing at home continued to pressure in a bid to salvage at least a draw but several efforts were thwarted by none other than the world's finest goalkeeper—Julio Cesar.

Throughout the match Julio Cesar made spectacular saves living up to his reputation as the world's best.

The second half showed no letting up by the Selecao as the talent of Robinho and Kaka showed class time and time again controlling the midfield and coordinating counter attacks against a desperate Uruguay.

These efforts finally paid off with a third goal, after a well worked play involving many players, Luis Fabiano rifled in a powerful shot and became top scorer not only for Brazil but the entire tournament.

Kaka sealed the deal with a penalty, for a foul he himself suffered, neatly tucked away, as top class players are expected to do.

The win put Brazil on top as leaders of the South American World Cup qualifiers.

So has Dunga found the formula? Only time can answer this question as Brazil will next meet Paraguay at home and then go on to play in the Confederations Cup coming up against some of the world's better squads.

Against Paraguay, home based Internacional's Nilmar will probably start as Luis Fabiano is suspended for a red card he picked up due to a second yellow. In a divided ball with the Uruguayan goalie Luis tried to get out of the way but the referee saw it as an attempt to invent a penalty and showed him his marching orders.

Apart from this incident the referee Saul Laverni did a wonderful job in what was his first match at this level.

Uruguayan Max Pereira was also sent off close to the end for a frustrated act of violence on Cruzeiro's Ramires who had come on to replace Manchester City's Elano.

Pato was not even on the bench for this match and also noticeably absent was Anderson.

Without the clumsy Anderson midfield did seem to flow better.

Dunga's gradual adjustments seem to be paying off as the Selecao have now scored 16 goals in five matches versus Portugal, Italy, Ecuador, Peru, and Uruguay—conceding only three.

“After the accident happened, I felt really bad as Diego, my youngest, would never get the chance to see me in a 'big stadium', as he used to call it. That's never going to happen now, and it's a regret I'm going to have for the rest of my life”.- Dario Silva in an interview for FIFA.com in April.

I am confident that most of you reading this article know about the tragic incident that finished off Dario Silva’s career. Dario Silva, born in November 2nd 1972 in Uruguay, was a forward who played for several clubs starting from Defensor Sporting and ending with Portsmouth.

In 1992 he began his career with Defensor scoring four times in 18 appearances. He then moved to Penarol for one season where he scored 27 goals in 44 games. After moving to Cagliari in 1995, he was sent back to his old club for a loan spell during which he scored eight goals in 12 appearances. Espanyol snatched him up in 1998 from Cagliari.

Despite scoring only three goals in 15 appearances, Silva was able to secure a move to Malaga in the 1999 season. He scored 36 goals in 100 games for Malaga. Next was Sevilla’s turn to sign him. With 9 goals in 48 appearances to his name, Silva cancelled the last year of his contract.

This was due to the fact that the then Sevilla coach Joaquin Capparo didn’t include Silva in his plans for 2005-06 season. Silva thus went to Portsmouth on a free transfer. Due to a previous ankle injury, Silva was unable to make any impact and with only three goals in 13 appearances, he was released from the club in 2nd Feb, 2006.

Dario Silva played 49 times for Uruguay and scored 14 goals.

Silva was still a free agent in September 25th 2006. On this day, Silva was driving in Montevideo with two other former footballers Elbio Papa and Dardo Pereira. He lost control of the vehicle he was driving and was thrown from it. He hit a lamppost and fractured his skull and right leg.

The next time Dario Silva woke up, he was lying down in a hospital bed without a leg.

The following lines are from uefa.com in an interview with Dario Silva six weeks after the accident:

uefa.com: You are giving interviews and seem to be very calm about what has happened to you.

Darío Silva: Well, when I woke up after the accident and realised I was in hospital, I looked under the sheets and saw that my right leg was missing. I started to panic a bit, but ten minutes later, when the doctors explained what had happened, I started crying.

uefa.com: Tears of gratitude, rather than sadness?

Silva: Of course, because I had come back to life. My family and friends have been a great support to me. And even the general public. That has been important to me because everyone wants to see you do well.

uefa.com: Was it particularly hard to explain your condition to your children, Elina (nine) and Diego Darío (three)?

Silva: My son is still very young. When I play football with him, he laughs because I can't kick the ball with my right foot. My daughter is more intelligent and she knows what's happened.

Silva will most probably receive a prosthetic limb in Italy. He wants to row in the 2012 Olympics. He still takes life with a smile. I find this fact amazing and almost unbelievable. When I first read about Dario Silva, I felt extremely sorry for him. The way in which Dario Silva reacted is just a lesson for everyone out there who suffers from conditions like that of Silva’s.

He can’t play professional football anymore but that doesn’t mean that he can’t move on to some other sport. Dario is hoping to win gold medals in the 2012 Olympics. The saddest thing is, Dario never got a proper farewell from club football. He had planned to return to Penarol after the disappointments in Portsmouth.

Unfortunately that never happened. I would like to finish with a few lines from the FIFA.com Interview in April 2007

Fifa: Finally, if we were to chat again in, say, five or ten years time, what kind of Dario Silva could we expect to find?

Dario Silva: The same one. I hope I'll have gone on to win a dozen Olympic gold medals. I'll still be smiling, friendly and blessed with a sense of humour. That's how I've been all my life and nothing will ever change me.