Just so there are no misunderstandings I am a Uruguay fan and thus have a bias towards Uruguay (or so my psych teachers tell me) I do try to the best of my ability to write in a neutral manner, so here goes.

Uruguay and Spain was a spectacular match featuring the current EURO U-19 champions against the 3rd overall team from the South American qualifying tourney.  These two sides are the favourites to clear the group with Spain being toted as a favourite (among the likes of Brazil and Argentina) to win the entire thing.

Both Spain and Uruguay hold their respective qualifying tournaments’ leading scorers in Bueno (S) and Cavani (U) and both play creative attacking football.  Admittedly I have not seen all of the matches (what with Copa America and all) but of the matches so far this has been the most evenly contested match between skilled opponents.

In the first half of the match Spain enjoyed the majority of possession but it was Uruguay who seemed to make the most of their possession reaching the Spaniard goal with malicious intent.  The scoring chances were few from either side with Suarez getting a couple of good runs at the Spanish goal including a one on one which the Spanish keeper did a great job of coming out and stopping. Thus the fist half ended 0-0.

The second half began in much the same manner as the first with Spain holding on the majority of the ball but Uruguay taking the game to the Spaniards.  Shortly after the onset of the second half Roman worked with way into the Spanish 18 finding Luis Suarez with a clever back heel who put the ball across the face of goal for Edison Cavani and ‘el Matador’ decisively found the back of the net.  1 – 0 Uruguay 47 min

 Spain once again took possession of the ball craftily moving it around the pitch but without many opportunities, Diego Capel was the one bright spot for Spain driving the Uruguayan left back crazy with his runs and crosses, however Cacares did an incredible job of snuffing out the Spanish attacks and keeping Bueno off the ball.  Some 10 minutes after the initial goal Uruguay were on the offensive again,  this time it was Suarez with a seemingly out of nowhere with a shot like a cannon which found its way into the back of the net.  2 – 0 Uruguay  56 min

Shortly after the second goal came the first of Uruguay’s mistakes as Ferrin (the manager) took out Surraco (attacking mid/wing forward) to put in Bruno Montelongo (defensive mid/defender) a change that not only reduced Uruguay’s attacking options but reduced their ability to transition the ball up-field, a limitation that would cost them 2 points in the long run.

Seeing the game slip out of their hands and with time ticking away the Spaniards pushed the attack, making the most of their possession.  The first of the Spanish goals came off a cross into the area where in Goigochea, (Uruguay’s goalie) committed Uruguay’s second and his first of two mistakes.  Goigochea rushed out the punch the ball away but did not reach the ball in time, leaving an open cage for the Spaniard forward to knock the ball into.  Adrian Lopez bravely rose up and knocked the ball in (taking a shot to head in the process) to bring Spain within a goal with a little under 20 minutes left in the match. 2-1 Uruguay 71 mi

Following the goal Spain pushed harder than they had all game, coming close a number of times only to be foiled by the outstanding defensive efforts of Caceres.  Uruguay came close to a third on a couple of occasions through counter attacks but failed to put the game away.  For the most part it was Spain’s game in the final 15 minutes with barrage after barrage on the Uruguayan goal.  Spain thought they had acquired the tie when Pique went in on net placing the ball past Goigochea only to have it called off for having brought the ball down with his arm, a call which the video replay showed to be an accurate one.

It was once again the combination of poor decisions from Goigochea, the pressure of the Spanish attack and the outstanding play of Capel which brought about the equalizer as Goigochea once more came out poorly to punch a ball clear only to hit it directly into the path of Capel, once more leaving the net open and Capel made the best of his chance hitting the ball perfectly over the keeper. 2 - 2 90+ min

Outstanding Players

Uruguay

Caceres;  played a hell of a game neutralizing one of the most dangerous forwards (at this age group) in Europe.  Making in key stop after another and safely playing the ball out to the midfielders/forwards.

Roman/Arismendi;  these two midfielders were pivotal in snuffing out the Spanish attack and putting forward dangerous through balls for Suarez to run on to.

Suarez/Cavani;  while they squandered some chances both were on form, Cavani showing his poachers nose for goal and Suarez contributing by assisting on the first goal and scoring an absolute cracker of a shot from distance.

 

Spain

Pique; had a great game, limiting the damage from a potent Uruguayan offensive front (he nearly took Surraco out of the game at times, which is why he didn’t make my list) and nearly scored the equalizer a few minutes before the actual equalizer came.

Capel; by far the best player on pitch for Spain (if not the best performance by any player on pitch) his runs drove the Uruguayan defense mad, put in dangerous crosses and in the end put in the finisher.


Before the match began, knowing only Spain’s reputation (EURO champs, and among favourites to take the tourney) had someone asked me if I would have been happy with a 2-2 draw I would have said yes, however having been so close to the victory and having (once again biased opinion) shown more football than Spain for large portions of the match I must admit I was left with a bitter taste in my mouth.

Regardless, a 2 -2 draw with Spain nearly ensures qualification from the group.

I have never been one to brag about the AUF (Uruguayan soccer association) as my team has let me down plenty over the years but I must say I have great expectations of my nation over this summer.

 In Copa America we are heading to Venesuela with just about all our key players healthy which not being a nation with the depth of an Argentina or Brasil and thus not being able to replace anyone with a roughly equal counterpart is important to our sucess.  Secondly a number of our players are running on all cylendars.  Forlan in particular has been on a tear over the last month, I cant remember the last game in which he didnt score.  On top of Forlan, Diogo has had a magnificent season with Zaragosa putting up consisten efforts (with the exeption of the odd red card or cat fight/slap fest) Recoba has been recently  been playing as well as he showed he could earlier in his career and Lugao is coming off back to back championships (Sao Paulo last year, Fenerbache this).  

 We dont have the flash of Argentina or Brasil but we do have a much easier group (no offence to Venesuela or Peru), we have a great track record in this tournament (tied for most cups with Argentina @ 14) and we still have 'Garra'.

 Our U-20 squad I think is going to be one of the surpriesses of the tournament.  we have Edison Cavani now of Palermo who in qualifying was the tournaments goal scoring leader and we will be integrating Luis Suarez of Grogingen (Holland) which is a verry talented striker.  This team without the fame of Brasil or Argentina I beleive will be able to fly under the radar and go deep into the tournement.

 In roughly two weeks time we shall see whether or not my praise was merited or if i'll be eating my words.

 

Uruguay Que no ni no! 

I’ve been looking forward to the U20 world cup for some time now for a number of reasons not the least of which being that it will be held in Toronto (where I live).

A number of months ago, when first attempting to find information to see what my team (Uruguay) had to do to qualify I came across the qualifying process for Europe. I discovered that the U19 EURO championship is the basis for qualifying into the U20 World Cup with the final six teams of the tournament. This championship was held in Poland which explains (with all due respect) how the Pol’s made it to Can.

Along with Poland are Spain (the tournament champions) the Czech’s and Portugal, then the list get’s peculiar. Scotland (the runners up) as well as Austria round up the top six. And it hit me, where are the powerhouses of Europe? Spain, Portugal and the Czech’s are strong teams but they are not your Germany’s, England’s, France’s or Italy’s which are your typical powerhouse teams.

It’s true that the U20 tournament does not have the same ‘balance of power’ between nations that the men’s variation of the tournament does, African nations do significantly better at this stage than they have typically done on the larger scale, but the qualifying teams from the other groups are more or les the same nations we come to expect.

North America has Mexico and the US, South America has Brazil and Argentina, Asia has Japan and Korea and Africa has Nigeria. These are your sptaples when it comes to a world cup, and on top of these staples would normaly be Germany, Italy, France and/or England.

So, what’s up with the powerhouses of Europe? What happened in this tournament? And, should these nations be concerned with their footballing futures?