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The much-mentioned long-term trials in football are somehow less rare in selected teams than in clubs. Uruguay held one for fifteen years but had to swerve when they saw the abyss very close in the last few qualifiers. With a new rider and a team that combines some of its old guard with some young resources that have already earned their place, the Light bluewho will share Group H with Portugal, Ghana and South Korea, will play their fourth consecutive World Cup in Qatar, a run they had only achieved once in their history.

The DT: Diego Alonso, the holder of the place left by Maestro Tabárez

A Diego Alonsor he had to wear a sweatshirt that a Uruguayan football hero had used continuously for the past 15 years, Oscar Washington Tabárez, the coach who had brought the chosen ones back to the fore. Montevideo, who as a footballer had two cycles in Gimnasia y Esgrima La Plata (1999/2000 and 2008/09), had his period in Mexico as his best presentation letter, where he won two titles with Pachuca (Closing 2016 and Champions League of Concacaf 2017) and one with Monterrey (Champions League 2019).

“(Tabárez) He has left a wonderful legacy of pride and respect, not only in Uruguay, but throughout the world. We don’t feel it as a burden, we feel proud and happy to be in this situation.ny to be behind him in this selection. It’s a big responsibility,” Alonso assured when he took office on January 4. At that moment, with four dates to go before the end of the Qualifiers, the Light blue She was running seventh and her World Cup qualification was at serious risk.

In just 54 days, the Tornado managed to change those gloomy looks into smiles: four victories in a row, against Paraguay, Venezuela, Peru and Chile, earned a ranking that, at 47 years old, it will allow you to experience a World Cup from the bowelswhich he could not do as a footballer: although he had a small participation in the 2002 South Korea-Japan qualifiers, Víctor Púa did not include him in the list of 23 players who eventually traveled to Asia.

“I am clear that we will not go to the World Cup to participate, we will go for everything. And the players know it. I’m sure we have to go and compete for who we are: a great team at world level. We will try to play all seven games”, proposed Alonso, who, for this reason, has opted in recent months for a strong renewal in a squad that had maintained a very stable base during the Tabárez cycle.

In the first match of his management, against Paraguay in Asunción and with pressure at the limit, he made five players debut. Since then five more have joined who had never worn the blue shirt. Some of those 10 look set to become regulars in Qatar, such as goalkeeper Sergio Rochet (in place of the historic Fernando Muslera), left-back Mathías Olivera and striker Facundo Pellistri.

Picture: Luis Suárez will carry the weight of Uruguayan history at the World Cup

Rochet, Olivera and Pellistri, among others, joined a group of youngsters who had already earned their place in the national team, such as Darwin Núñez, Rodrigo Bentancur and Federico Valverde. However, the heaviest backpack still falls on the back of Luis Suarezthe national team’s all-time top scorer (accumulates 68 goals) and the second most capped player (he has 134 and is only surpassed by defender Diego Godín -159-).

The round of gunslinger In the national team he ran parallel to Tabárez’s journey: he made his debut on 7 February 2007 against Colombia in a friendly match played in Cúcuta, won by Uruguay 3-1 and in which the striker was sent off for protesting. He did so just 14 days after his 20th birthday. In fact, that year they played the Under 20 World Cup which took place in Canada and in which the team led by Gustavo Ferrín was eliminated in the round of 16.

While building a remarkable career in European football (first at Ajax, then Liverpool and later Barcelona), Suárez has been the image of his team in the last three World Cups, in which he played 13 games and scored 7 goals. In any case, his experiences in these ecumenical competitions also record traumatic moments, such as the expulsion against Ghana which prevented him from playing the semifinal against the Netherlands in South Africa 2010 and Giorgio Chiellini’s bite which took him out of Brazil 2014 and earned him a four-month suspension.

With his cycle in Europe over, following a weak 2021/22 season at Atlético de Madrid, the striker returned to his homeland to play three months at Nacional (the club where he made his professional debut in 2005) and keep up with the competition. The brief passage of him through the Handbag, with which he was champion of the national tournament, seems to be the previous step to his landing in the American Major League Soccer. Before that, he will give the gift to Qatar.

“We must be proud that it is the fourth consecutive World Cup for some players. And there are young people aiming for the third, like Josema Giménez. This is great value. Our squad mixes experience and youth, has many conditions and this has a lot to do with a World Cup”, assessed the striker, who with his national team was the champion of the 2011 Copa América which was played in Argentina.

Story: the miracle of the country of 3 million

A country with less than 3.5 million inhabitants and with 40% of its population living in a single city, Montevideo. A professional league with only 16 participants in which two teams score a remarkable hegemony. And a team that has won two world titles, 15 Copa América crowns and two Olympic gold medals. The little miracle of Uruguayan football is already part of the football history books.

Those achievements were already fading in the 21st century. When the team led by Teacher Tabárez went to South Africa in 2010four decades had already passed since the last pleasant memory that the Uruguayans kept of a World Cup: fourth place in Mexico 1970. Victory in the final against Argentina had been much further to reach the crown in the 1930 contest, the maracanazo 1950 and fourth place in Switzerland 1954after losing in extra time in one of the semifinals against Hungary of the Magical Magyars.

South Africa was the first season to go green, after the absence in Germany 2006 (the third in four editions since the United States 1994), and the first major appointment for the golden generation of Luis Suárez, Edinson Cavani, Diego Godín and company. The fourth place, with the unforgettable victories against South Korea in the round of 16 and Ghana -on penalties- in the quarter-finals, stunned the football planet.

Since then, the Light blue He did not miss a World Cup again and his performances lost surprise status. At Brazil 2014 you came through a very difficult group, which you shared with Italy, England and Costa Rica, before giving up against Colombia in the round of 16. In Russia 2018 they got through the first phase with perfect pace (defeating the hosts, Egypt and Saudi Arabia), beat Portugal in the round of 16, including Cristiano Ronaldo, and capitulated in the quarterfinals against France, eventual champions.

Thanks to the third place obtained in qualifying (he finished behind Brazil and Argentina), Uruguay will participate in a World Cup for the 14th time in 22 editions. Furthermore, the expedition to Qatar will mark the fourth consecutive presence since South Africa 2010, a streak which Light blue He had achieved it only once: between Chile 1962 and Federal Germany 1974.