Uruguay World Cup Squad

[Dave]

Squad List:

 

Preliminary Squad  Fernando Muslera (Galatasaray/Turkey), Martin Silva (Vasco da Gama/Brazil), Martin Campana (Independiente/Argentina) Diego Godin (Atletico Madrid/Spain), Sebastian Coates (Sporting CP/Portugal), Jose Maria Gimenez (Atletico Madrid/Spain), Maximiliano Pereira (Porto/Portugal), Gaston Silva (Independiente/Argentina), Martin Caceres (Lazio/Italy), Guillermo Varela (Penarol) Nahitan Nandez (Boca Juniors/Argentina), Lucas Torreira (Sampdoria/Italy), Matias Vecino (Inter Milan/Italy), Federico Valverde (Real Madrid/Spain), Rodrigo Bentancur (Juventus/Italy), Carlos Sanchez (Monterrey/Mexico), Giorgian De Arrascaeta (Cruzeiro/Brazil), Diego Laxalt (Genoa/Italy), Cristian Rodriguez (Penarol), Jonathan Urretaviscaya (Monterrey/Mexico), Nicolas Lodeiro (Seattle Sounders/USA), Gaston Ramirez (Sampdoria/Italy) Cristhian Stuani (Girona/Spain), Maximiliano Gomez (Celta Vigo/Spain), Edinson Cavani (PSG/France), Luis Suarez (Barcelona/Spain)

[SirBalon]

I like this squad a lot, it's full of top potential. I always find it a mystery that they can't play better than they do.

[Azeem]

5 hours ago, SirBalon said:

I like this squad a lot, it's full of top potential. I always find it a mystery that they can't play better than they do.

[SirBalon]

9 minutes ago, Devon Von Devon said:

Yeah, I didn't want to lay into Tabárez because of the immense respect I have for the man.  But he is a dinosaur and is keeping what I see as a golden generation behind the times.  The problem is that they revere him in Uruguay and I also want to add that in my experience the Uruguayans are very much like the Japanese of Latin America in terms of wanting to keep everything native... I'm not saying they're racist  which is something thrown at the Japanese in that sense, but they are definitely insular.

This Uruguayan squad and what's coming should be achieving more than just qualification. They should be playing top football.

[Azeem]

12 minutes ago, SirBalon said:

Yeah, I didn't want to lay into Tabárez because of the immense respect I have for the man.  But he is a dinosaur and is keeping what I see as a golden generation behind the times.  The problem is that they revere him in Uruguay and I also want to add that in my experience the Uruguayans are very much like the Japanese of Latin America in terms of wanting to keep everything native... I'm not saying they're racist  which is something thrown at the Japanese in that sense, but they are definitely insular.

This Uruguayan squad and what's coming should be achieving more than just qualification. They should be playing top football.

Well he did won the Copa america and finished third at the World Cup.

[SirBalon]

2 minutes ago, Devon Von Devon said:

Well he did won the Copa america and finished third at the World Cup.

Like I said, I respect him and more than just for those two reasons.  But Uruguay has to lose its pragmatism because it has players that can demonstrate a lot more diversity than just being disciplined.  In saying that, Uruguay have been for more than just decades a pragmatic side.

[Spike]

5 hours ago, SirBalon said:

I like this squad a lot, it's full of top potential. I always find it a mystery that they can't play better than they do.

I've been reading a lot on the DNA of various ethnic groups over the last few days. Strangely enough when Uruguay ceded from Brazil in 1825, the population of 75,000 nearly all carried a gene that caused a interference in the cone cells of the human eye. They didn't know this at the time but the interference caused knee-caps and footballs to look exactly the same. Since soccer hadn't reached the people of the Rio Platense yet there was no cause for concern and it may as well not have existed, many Argentines hadn't yet evolved their kneecaps into something that could withstand a Uruguayan kick. It's oft been said that if the Uruguayans weren't such fierce kickers-of-knees wouldn't be independent of Argentina nor have two World Cups.

[SirBalon]

1 minute ago, Spike said:

I've been reading a lot on the DNA of various ethnic groups over the last few days. Strangely enough when Uruguay ceded from Brazil in 1825, the population of 75,000 nearly all carried a gene that caused a interference in the cone cells of the human eye. They didn't know this at the time but the interference caused knee-caps and footballs to look exactly the same. Since soccer hadn't reached the people of the Rio Platense yet, many Argentines hadn't yet evolved their kneecaps into something that could withstand a Uruguayan kick. It's oft been said that if the Uruguayans weren't such fierce kickers-of-knees wouldn't be independent of Argentina nor have two World Cups.

Have you ever had a deep look at the 1986 World Cup clash between Uruguay and Denmark?

That Uruguay side had one of the greatest players I have personally ever witnessed (saw him play in the flesh thankfully) in Enzo Francescoli and yet they decided to hack their way through the Danes who were very un-Sancdanavian and a beautiful side to watch with that generation, their greatest generation.

[Spike]

1 minute ago, SirBalon said:

Have you ever had a deep look at the 1986 World Cup clash between Uruguay and Denmark?

That Uruguay side had one of the greatest players I have personally ever witnessed (saw him play in the flesh thankfully) in Enzo Francescoli and yet they decided to hack their way through the Danes who were very un-Sancdanavian and a beautiful side to watch with that generation, their greatest generation.

One doesn't have to take a deep look at anything Uruguayan to understand they are the perfect practitioners of 'murderball'. Luis Suárez, possible the greatest Centre Forward of these ten years is a livewire, capable of red cards and hattricks within the same game. Gastón Ramírez (a creative midfielder) famously kicked a Colombian player in the thigh when he signaled an injury. The Colombia player even kicked the ball towards Ramírez when he noticed Ramírez approaching, but the later still followed through with his foul.

Diego Godín the best Centre Back of the last five years will elbow you in the head given the chance. This viciousness is more prevalent in Uruguay but the occasional Argentine also feels the same way. Diego Simeone, Diego Maradona, perhaps it´s the Latin culture fused with the Italian heritage that gives them a darkside 

[Guest]

8 hours ago, SirBalon said:

Yeah, I didn't want to lay into Tabárez because of the immense respect I have for the man.  But he is a dinosaur and is keeping what I see as a golden generation behind the times.  The problem is that they revere him in Uruguay and I also want to add that in my experience the Uruguayans are very much like the Japanese of Latin America in terms of wanting to keep everything native... I'm not saying they're racist  which is something thrown at the Japanese in that sense, but they are definitely insular.

This Uruguayan squad and what's coming should be achieving more than just qualification. They should be playing top football.

They never will. Most Uruguayan managers will play the ugly long ball football that they play now. Its the Uruguayan school of football that they are so proud of, but they are a bunch of dinasaurs. Its not just Tabarez.

[El Profesor]

8 hours ago, Spike said:

One doesn't have to take a deep look at anything Uruguayan to understand they are the perfect practitioners of 'murderball'. Luis Suárez, possible the greatest Centre Forward of these ten years is a livewire, capable of red cards and hattricks within the same game. Gastón Ramírez (a creative midfielder) famously kicked a Colombian player in the thigh when he signaled an injury. The Colombia player even kicked the ball towards Ramírez when he noticed Ramírez approaching, but the later still followed through with his foul.

Diego Godín the best Centre Back of the last five years will elbow you in the head given the chance. This viciousness is more prevalent in Uruguay but the occasional Argentine also feels the same way. Diego Simeone, Diego Maradona, perhaps it´s the Latin culture fused with the Italian heritage that gives them a darkside 

My father tells some stories of how Copa Libertadores always had fights. Brazilian teams basically expected to be beaten by uruguayans and argentinians if they won the game. Talk about intimidation.  Still to this day, uruguyans, argentinians and the brazilian teams from Rio Grande do Sul carry that edge. 

An interesting story he also told me was of a brazilian player named Almir. He was a kind of a bad boy in the 60s but he also was very talented and went to play for Boca Juniors. There, he learned a trick, which he brought to Brazil. He would put a needle in a band-aid in his finger, and then during the match he would poke the other team players with the needle. It is kinda fitting to the story that Almir ended up being killed in a fight. 

 

Speaking about genes, a significant number of uruguayans also have amerindian genes, mostly charrúa. They were known for their fighting spirit. 

 

8 hours ago, SirBalon said:

Have you ever had a deep look at the 1986 World Cup clash between Uruguay and Denmark?

That Uruguay side had one of the greatest players I have personally ever witnessed (saw him play in the flesh thankfully) in Enzo Francescoli and yet they decided to hack their way through the Danes who were very un-Sancdanavian and a beautiful side to watch with that generation, their greatest generation.

Enzo Francescoli. Thanks for bringing his name up, Baloncito. What a player he was.

 

 

[SirBalon]

10 hours ago, El Profesor said:

My father tells some stories of how Copa Libertadores always had fights. Brazilian teams basically expected to be beaten by uruguayans and argentinians if they won the game. Talk about intimidation.  Still to this day, uruguyans, argentinians and the brazilian teams from Rio Grande do Sul carry that edge. 

An interesting story he also told me was of a brazilian player named Almir. He was a kind of a bad boy in the 60s but he also was very talented and went to play for Boca Juniors. There, he learned a trick, which he brought to Brazil. He would put a needle in a band-aid in his finger, and then during the match he would poke the other team players with the needle. It is kinda fitting to the story that Almir ended up being killed in a fight. 

 

Speaking about genes, a significant number of uruguayans also have amerindian genes, mostly charrúa. They were known for their fighting spirit. 

 

Enzo Francescoli. Thanks for bringing his name up, Baloncito. What a player he was.

 

 

Great anecdotes there, I love listening to those sorts of things on football.  I've mentioned before in many posts of the past that one of the things I adore is getting the older generations to speak about their experiences with football during their youth because you learn a hell of a lot more on all fronts than from books and documentaries.

As for "El Principe"... When I was a kid he was one of my obsessions because I have family in Buenos Aires and I had football shirts that you couldn't get in Europe back in the day which obviously in this case we're talking about the River shirt and when we played football in the park I was either Francescoli or Maradona.