Uruguay – Underestimated Ageing Underdogs?

Anurag Bhide

14th June 2014 | 9:53 PM

As a nation that has been at the forefront of the tactical evolution of the game and has generally excelled at the global stage, the Netherlands is frequently held up as an example of a small nation consistently and considerably punching above its weight. They have won precisely zero World Cups. Uruguay have won two. The Netherlands have a population of 17 million, Uruguay three. Yet this tiny nation, tucked unceremoniously between two South American giants, with no extraordinary domestic league to write home about, continues to be a formidable force on the world stage to this day and no one bats an eyelid.

To put things into perspective, Uruguay is ranked 135th in the world on population. Its FIFA ranking is 7. It is the smallest of all nations at the World Cup this year. In churning out numbers of world class sportsmen way out of proportion to their size, Uruguay are to football what Jamaica are to sprinting. The 2010 semifinalists almost missed the bus to Brazil as they were teetering on the edge of elimination after a horrid run of 6 games without a win during qualification. They scraped through in fifth place on the back of some impressive wins against Venezuela, Peru, Colombia and Argentina, and dispatched Jordan 5-0 over two legs in the playoff to book their place in the finals.

One of the major concerns for La Celeste this year is a lack of freshness within the squad. Coach Oscar Tabarez has picked as many as 15 players from the 2010 squad, while openly lamenting the lack of options and emphasizing the resultant necessity of stability and familiarity within the squad. As a result, the starting XI bears a very familiar look, a group that has excelled four years ago and won the Copa America the year after. The continuity, in fact, begins at the helm, with Tabarez being the longest serving manager in this edition of the World Cup, one of only four managers still in charge of the same sides they commandeered in South Africa.

On the flip side, the Uruguay squad is the third-oldest in the competition, with an average age of 28-and-a-half years (Argentina tops this particular list at 29 years on average). The back four of Martin Caceres, captain Diego Lugano, Diego Godin and Maxi Pereira in front of keeper Fernando Muslera might be comfortable alongside each other by now, but one thing they do not possess is pace. As a result, Tabarez will deploy ample protection from central midfield in the form of Walter Gargano, Egidio Arevalo Rios or Alvaro Gonzalez sitting deep. The back four also sit very deep, denying the opposition forwards any space in behind, something that will prove absolutely crucial as Uruguay find themselves in a group where the opposition ranks will boast the pace of Mario Balotelli, Daniel Sturridge and Joel Campbell. The battle between Diego Godin, who has had a phenomenal season for Atletico Madrid and is one of the most sought after central defenders in football as a result, and these speedy frontmen may prove critical to their bid to get out of a very tough group.

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