Uruguay: Exiting the group stage is the bare minimum

Published : 29 May 2018, 12:50

DF-Xinhua Report by Zhang Yifei

Players of Uruguay's national soccer team take part in a training session in Canelones, Uruguay, on May 28, 2018. Uruguay's national soccer team will face Uzbekistan on June 7 before the Russia FIFA World Cup. Photo Xinhua/Nicolas Celaya.

In the past 10 years, under coach Oscar Tabarez's leadership, the Uruguayan national football team entered a stable and prosperous period.

Uruguay will face Russia, Egypt, and Saudi Arabia in Group A, a relatively easy opening to the tournament for Tabarez's men. With the two ace strikers Luis Suarez and Edison Cavani in the front and Diego Godin and Fernando Muslera in the back, getting out of their group is the bare minimum Uruguayan supporters will be hoping for.

In the qualifiers, Uruguay was promoted into the finals courtesy of nine wins, four draws and five losses.

Playing a traditional 4-4-2, the combination of Suarez and Cavani is spectacular. However, the midfield is probably the one area of the park where the Uruguayans are vulnerable. They quickly pass the ball to strikers and rely on their abilities to deal with the rest of the equation. Cavani is Uruguay's most secure scoring weapon.

The PSG striker performed amazingly well in the South American qualifiers, scoring 10 goals on the way to taking his team to football's biggest showcase. Unlike Cavani, Suarez is usually the creator. He provided seven assists over the course of the campaign. If both of them can stay healthy, Uruguay should not be afraid of any defense in the tournament.

Uruguay also has a hidden destabilizing factor. Suarez's temper. In the 2014 South Africa World Cup, Suarez bit the shoulder of Italian defender Giorgio Chiellini and got a suspension because of it. Without their star player, Uruguay stumbled out of the tournament.