World Cup Soccer 2010: Uruguay’s road to World Cup semi-finals
Uruguay is making their eleventh appearance in the 19th edition of the World Cup finals. The relatively new followers of the game will be surprised to know that Uruguay is one of only seven nations who have been successful in winning the World Cup till now.
In fact, they won the inaugural edition of the World Cup in 1930 which was played on their home turf. They could not take part in the next two tournaments in Europe because of their political conflicts. However, Uruguay returned to play the fourth edition in Brazil 1950 to win back the World Champion status. They reached the semi-finals in Switzerland 1954 and Mexico 1970 but could not go ahead to win it. Since then, Uruguay faced a steep decline in standards as they could only qualify for four World Cups in nine attempts since1970. Their best runs came in Mexico 1986 and Italy 1990 where they made it till the round of 16 only.
In the ongoing World Cup in South Africa, Uruguay was placed in Group A with hosts South Africa, France and Mexico and this is how they qualified for the semi-finals:
Uruguay 0 France 0:
After the group opener between South Africa and Mexico ended in a draw, it was an opportunity for both Uruguay and France to get their noses ahead in the race to progress in Group A. Off-field problems for France helped the Uruguayans who managed to squeeze a draw.
South Africa 0 Uruguay 3:
Diego Forlan opened the scoring in the first half and added another from a penalty kick in the second before Alvaro Pereira completed the demolition of the host nation.
Mexico 0 Uruguay 1:
Both Uruguay and Mexico needed a draw in this match to qualify for the knock-out stage which could have powered Uruguay to the top of the group on better goal difference. However, they preferred to finish the group stage on a high and went ahead for a win against the Mexicans. Although Diego Forlan was the key performer for his team but the only goal of the match went to his fellow striker Luis Suarez.
Round of 16 – Uruguay 2 South Korea 1:
Luis Suarez was on the score sheet just 8 minutes into the match as they had sensed some confusion in the South Korean defence. It seemed that this goal would be enough for the South Americans to go through as their defence looked unbeatable. Uruguay had finished the group stage without conceding a goal. However, Lee Chung-Yong found the equaliser after the indecisive forward ran past the Uruguayan goalkeeper Fernando Muslera and slammed it into the net. Just ten minutes from time, Diego Forlan sent a low cross in the penalty box for Suarez who converted it into a goal with ease.
Quarter-final – Uruguay 1 (4) Ghana 1 (2):
Sulley Muntari gave Ghana the lead from a superb goal from a long-range but an equally wonderful free-kick from Diego Forlan gave the Uruguayans the equaliser in which the much talked about Jabulani ball had a part to play. The two teams could not be separated till the last minute of extra-time which will be remembered by Africa for a very long time. Luis Suarez handled a goal-bound header from Ghana to earn a straight red which gave Ghana the spot-kick which Asamoah Gyan sent over the bar to force the match into the penalty shootout. Uruguay scored four of their five penalties whereas two were missed by Ghana.
Uruguay will now be making their first semi-final appearance in 40 years. Few would have predicted that Uruguay would be South America’s only representative in the semi-finals as they stand between three European nations and World Cup glory.
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