Well they made hard-work of qualifying, needing a play-off against Costa Rica to progress, but nevertheless Uruguay does not go to the World Cup without hope. Perhaps comparable to Chile in that its riches lie in the attacking part of the field. In fact even though Uruguay finshed 5th in the South American qualifying stakes, they were only outscored by Brazil and Chile.
Diego Forlan is one to watch. He's has had a great season for Athletico Madrid, scoring extra-time winners in the Europa Cup semi-final and final against Liverpool and Fulham respectively. He clearly loves playing at Anfield - he scored 2 goals there for Manchester United in 2002. 'He comes from Uruguay, he made the Scousers cry...' etc.
Nicolas Lodeiro is the man entrusted with the all-important role of creative genius/ playmaker/ ball sprayer/ game turner/ through the eye of a needle passer. He's already formed a lethal combination with Forlan's strike-partner, Luis Suarez, at Ajax. Suarez scored 49 goals in 48 games for Ajax so what price this trio firing La Celeste to the Round of 16 and beyond?
Between the sticks:
Fernando Muslera (Lazio), Juan-Guillermo Castillo (Cali), Martin Silva (Defensor Sporting)
Kicking lumps:
Diego Lugano (Fenerbahce), Diego Godin (Villarreal), Andres Scotti (Colo Colo), Jorge Fucile (Porto), Martin Caceres (Juventus), Mauricio Victorino (Universidad de Chile), Maximiliano Pereira (Benfica)
Mincing about:
Walter Gargano (Napoli), Egidio Arevalo-Rios (Penarol), Sebastian Eguren (AIK Stockholm), Diego Perez (Monaco), Alvaro Pereira (Porto), Alvaro Fernandez (Universidad de Chile), Ignacio Gonzalez (Valencia), Nicolas Lodeiro (Ajax)
Grabbing the glory:
Sebastian Fernandez (Banfield), Luis Suarez (Ajax), Diego Forlan (Atletico Madrid), Sebastian Abreu (Botafogo), Edinson Cavani (Palermo)
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