Uruguay tries to overcome barrier that it has not overcome since Maracanazo

The painful defeat to Uruguay in the decisive game of the 1950 World Cup is still a source of trauma for the Brazilians, who have lifted the trophy five times since that day. The Uruguayans, who celebrated the journey known as Maracanazo, regretted not having repeated such a long campaign since then.

Until today, the goals scored by Schiaffino and Ghiggia in the 2-1 victory at Maracanã were the greatest achievements of the celestial team in World Cups. After that, the country was never able to return to a final.

In the seven decades after that confrontation, Uruguay participated in 11 editions of the Cup, but never went beyond the semifinals, a stage in which it reached three times: 1954, 1970 and 2010.

Among the world champions, the country is experiencing the longest fast since its last title. The second biggest gap is that of England, which 56 years ago celebrated its first and only trophy, conquered precisely in the edition held on English soil.

In the most recent World Cups, in 2018, in Russia, and in 2014, in Brazil, the team that won the first edition of the tournament, held in 1930, in Uruguay itself, did not manage to be among the semifinalists.

In Brazilian lands, the fall occurred against Colombia, in the round of 16. On Russian soil, the farewell was in the quarterfinals, against France, which would continue in the competition until winning the title against Croatia.

In Qatar, Uruguay will arrive renewed in search of its return to the decision of a Cup and, mainly, in search of the dream of the third championship.

The South American team enters the tournament with a new coach, Diego Alonso, who replaced Óscar Tabárez in December, after a 15-year journey by the former commander at the head of the national team.

The experienced 75-year-old coach was sacked by the country’s federation after a negative run in the 2022 World Cup qualifiers, which left qualification for the tournament in jeopardy.

With the new coaching staff, the team managed to recover and ended the qualifying in third, only behind Brazil and Argentina.

Despite the change in the bench, the squad that will be taken to the Middle East is full of veteran names, who played with Tabárez for many years, such as Cavani, 35, Suárez, 35, Muslera, 36, and Godín, 36.

They are joined, however, by the most promising names in the country, such as midfielder Federico Valverde, from Real Madrid. The 24-year-old is one of the biggest bets of fans in the competition.

Formed at the base of Peñarol, Valverde is one of the relevant names of the Spanish team, current champions of the Champions. The player, who has already used the team captain’s armband on a few occasions, is recognized for his talent for quickly connecting defense with attack, being an important weapon for counterattack plays.

Following in the footsteps of Suárez and Cavani, forward Darwin Núñez, 23, of Liverpool, is another one that emerges as someone who can be decisive in the attack of the celestial. Although he has gone through ups and downs in the first few months in the English team, the Uruguayan has already shown his value and can play on the left or in the middle of the offensive sector.

Uruguay is in Group H, along with Portugal, South Korea and Ghana. Ghana was the rival beaten by the Uruguayans in the quarterfinals of 2010, when the South Americans advanced to the semifinals, in which they were surpassed by the Netherlands.

For Diego Alonso, this is a difficult key. “We are in a very balanced group, and all four teams have a real chance of guaranteeing qualification,” he said.

The commander, however, has confidence in the ability of his players. “We have a lot of respect for the other teams, but we trust our quality a lot. We know that we can get a good classification in this World Cup, and that’s what we’re going to look for in Qatar”, he analyzed.