Uruguay sweat over Cavani
PROVEN COACHING SYSTEM AND PASSION ENSURES TOP RESULTS
With similar accents and culture, there is little that annoys your average Uruguayan more than being mistaken for an Argentine next door.
No one, however, is confusing them at the World Cup.
Argentina, with a population of more than 40 million, have gone home after a shambolic campaign that saw just one lastgasp win in four matches, a miserable Lionel Messi failing again on the big stage, and a wobbly defence beaten nine times.
Uruguay, with 3.3 million people, are into a quarter-final with Argentina’s conquerors France after four straight wins including a stunning 2-1 knockout victory over Cristiano Ronaldo’s Portugal.
So with such a small population pool, how can ‘La Celeste’ be so consistently good? Their success, as any fan knows, is no new phenomenon.
Uruguay won the inaugural World Cup in their capital Montevideo in 1930 and upset hosts Brazil to lift it again in 1950.
That early success was thanks in part to enlightened social inclusion policies. While South American neighbours were restricting football to a European descendant elite, Uruguay’s star was Jose Andrade, the son of an African-born slave.
The modern generation have not yet won a World Cup, but have been no slackers either. They reached the semi-finals in 2010. Uruguay have also won the Copa America 15 times.
“The reasons are many, but all related to one big thing: the entire country is dedicated to football,” said one Uruguayan, Javier Borkenztain, discussing the phenomenon on social media.
Beyond the national obsession with football — notable even in comparison with the passions on display in neighbouring Brazil and Argentina — there is the question of stability at the helm.
Their current coach Oscar Tabarez, for example, has been in charge for 12 years and is at his third World Cup of that spell. Locals call him ‘El Maestro’ (The Teacher).
Then there is a meticulous kids’ football network that gets children organised and enthused from aged four.
Furthermore, Uruguay has a highly developed coaching network that is not shy to move talent on to Europe fast, which the national team can then draw back on. All-time top scorer Luis Suarez headed to the Netherlands aged 19 to join Groningen, before going on to Ajax, Liverpool and Barcelona.
Standout factor
Then there is a more nebulous factor — the famous Uruguayan ‘Garra Charrua’ (Charrua Claw), meaning a fighting spirit and intensity said to enable the team to play above their real level.
“Uruguayan football is just an extension of the Uruguayan mindset of never backing down against the world even when success seems unlikely,” said Fernando Alberto, a Brazilian, musing on the causes of their standing in the football world.
“Uruguay has half the population of the city of Rio de Janeiro. It is really hard to understand why. The thing is that they just love the sport like very few do.”
Unusually, Uruguay are not the smallest nation among the 32 who made it to Russia. That distinction went to Iceland, and whose own population of 340,000 would fit into a suburb of Montevideo.
But while Iceland and Uruguay fans may feel like brothers in some ways, one set are back home and another is converging on Nizhny Novgorod for tomorrow’s showdown with France.