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Tag: Uruguay

  • Qatar 2022: Uruguay, South Korea share spoils at Education City Stadium

    Qatar 2022: Uruguay, South Korea share spoils at Education City Stadium

    The Qatar 2022 World Cup witnessed another goalless draw as the South American side Uruguay  and an Asian team South Korea ended it 0-0 after 90 mins plus additional time at the Education City Stadium.

    Tottenham Hotspur star Heung-min Son played despite recently fracturing an eye socket, but was unable to inspire his nation to victory, despite some bright moments.

    The South Koreans will be thanking their stars for escaping with at least a point in the encounter as the woodwork twice saved their blushes. Diego Godin’s head struck the goalpost before talented midfielder Federico Valverde struck the post another time with a powerful long-range strike.

    West African side Ghana will look forward to getting all three points when they face Portugal later this evening, the winner of this encounter will climb to the top of Group H.

    Similarly, Ghana will be aiming to be the first African side to score a goal as the four other teams that have played before now failed to score a single goal.

     

  • Luis Suarez reveals new club

    Luis Suarez reveals new club

    Former Barcelona striker Luis Suarez has confirmed he’s returning to Uruguay’s Nacional.

    Just hours prior to the announcement, it seemed like he was destined for a move to MLS, to Gareth Bale’s Los Angeles FC, but the Uruguayan has followed his heart and opted for Nacional.

    After 16 years in European football, he is returning to his former club where he came through the youth ranks and made his professional debut.

    Putting an end to a summer of speculation and rumours, Suarez himself announced the news in a video posted to his personal Twitter account. The news will delight Nacional fans who had been campaigning for the signing.

    In the short video, the former Atletico Madrid man revealed that he has reached a pre-agreement with Nacional and that he expects the details to be ironed out shortly. Then, everything will be announced officially and Suarez will return to Nacional.

  • I play for Real Madrid for a reason – Valverde

    I play for Real Madrid for a reason – Valverde

    Real Madrid midfielder Fede Valverde says he’ll lean on his club experience to help Uruguay.

    Valverde is hoping to go to the Qatar World Cup with his Uruguay, having been an important player for his country for a number of years now.

    The midfielder put in an impressive performance as Uruguay claimed a big win over Paraguay, and he knows he’ll have to do the same in another crucial game against Venezuela.

    “I have to do my part,” Valverde said at a press conference this week. “I have to be more of an important player.

    “This is an important period and I have to hold my head up, stick my chest out and show why I’m here. I play for Real Madrid for a reason.”

  • Uruguay sack 74-year-old coach after record-breaking 15-year stint

    Uruguay sack 74-year-old coach after record-breaking 15-year stint

    Iconic Uruguay coach Oscar Tabarez was sacked on Friday after a record-breaking 15 years in the job, following a poor run of results that leaves the country’s World Cup qualification hopes in the balance.

    Tabarez, 74, enjoys almost legendary status in Uruguay having led the tiny country of 3.4 million people to the World Cup semi-finals in 2010 and then to the Copa America title a year later.

    But four straight defeats — three of them by three goals — have left Uruguay in danger of missing out on next year’s World Cup, a tournament they won in 1930 and 1950.

    “The executive committee of the AUF informs that it has decided to end the contract of Oscar Washington Tabarez and other members of the national team coaching staff,” said the Uruguayan Football Association (AUF) in a statement.

    The AUF described it as a “difficult decision” that in no way “disavows Tabarez’s important contribution to Uruguayan football.”

    Uruguay have scored just one goal, conceding 11, in their last four matches that included defeats to Brazil, Bolivia, and twice to Argentina.

    They sit seventh in the single South American qualifying table for the World Cup in Qatar, with only the first four progressing automatically.

    Brazil and Argentina have already qualified, while Ecuador need just two wins from their final four matches to join them.

    The battle for the final spot sees five teams, including Uruguay, separated by just two points.

    Tabarez took charge of a record 221 matches with a single national team, even putting him ahead of former Germany boss Joachim Loew, with 198 games.

    He was the longest-serving current national team coach until Friday at 15 years and eight months.

    Tabarez first took over the Uruguay reins from 1988 to 1990 before he was hired again in 2006.

    He also coached Boca Juniors twice and AC Milan between his two stints with the national team

  • Uruguay cancel call-up for Edinson Cavani

    Uruguay cancel call-up for Edinson Cavani

    Manchester United striker Edinson Cavani’s Uruguay call-up for next month’s 2022 FIFA World Cup qualifiers has been cancelled.

    The Premier League announced last week that its clubs would not release players for international duty which involved travel to countries covered by the British government’s “red list” coronavirus restrictions.

    Uruguay is on that list, which would mean Cavani being required to quarantine in a government-approved hotel for 10 days on his return to Britain.

    However, the Uruguayan federation has confirmed that Cavani would no longer be called up for the matches against Peru, Bolivia and Ecuador.

    Aston Villa announced on Sunday that their Argentina call-ups — Emi Martinez and Emi Buendia — would be released for that country’s first two qualifiers in the September break.

    They however stated that the players would miss the last one (match) against Bolivia.

    Under that arrangement, the club said, the players would only miss the Premier League game against Chelsea on Sept. 11.

  • Uruguayan FA urges English FA to review Cavani ban

    Uruguayan FA urges English FA to review Cavani ban

    The Uruguayan Football Association (AUF) on Monday criticised their English counterparts for banning Edinson Cavani.

    The association called his three-match sanction for alleged racism “a flagrant injustice that damages the morals of an unimpeachable man.”

    The AUF “exhorts the FA to review its sanction,” it said in a statement.

    “We are convinced, through our profound knowledge of the person and analysis of the incident, that he does not deserve (the ban) nor the consequential moral aggravation.”

    The Manchester United striker was suspended last week by the FA and fined 100,000 pounds (136,330 dollars).

    The sanctions were for a term he used in an Instagram post following his side’s 3-2 win at Southampton on Nov. 29, before taking it down and apologising.

    The FA did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment.

    The Uruguayan FA’s request came shortly after a similar appeal by Cavani’s national team mates.

    The Uruguayan players’ union (AFU) said the English FA “committed a discriminatory act against the culture and way of life of the Uruguayan people”.

    The statement was shared on Twitter by Uruguay captain Diego Godin.

    “Edinson Cavani has never committed any conduct that could be interpreted as racist,” the AFU said.

    “He merely used a common expression in Latin America to affectionately address a loved one or close friend.

    “The sanction shows the English Football Association’s biased, dogmatic and ethnocentric vision that only allows a subjective interpretation to be made from its particular and excluding conclusion, however flawed it may be.

    “We request the FA to immediately overturn the sanction imposed on Edinson Cavani and reinstate his good name and honour in the world that has been so unfairly tarnished by this reprehensible decision.”

    The Uruguayan Academy of Letters, which protects and promotes the Spanish language in Uruguay, also denounced the ban last week.

    It called the sanction an example of English football’s lack of “cultural and linguistic knowledge.”

    Cavani, who has scored four times for Manchester United this season, missed Friday’s 2-1 win over Aston Villa due to the suspension.

    The 33-year-old will also miss their League Cup semi-final against rivals Manchester City on Wednesday as well as Saturday’s FA Cup third-round match against Watford.

    As part of its punishment, the FA also said Cavani must complete “face-to-face education”.

  • Uruguayan academics slam English FA over Cavani ban

    Uruguayan academics slam English FA over Cavani ban

    The Uruguayan Academy of Letters on Friday denounced a three-game ban given to Manchester United’s Edinson Cavani by the Football Association (FA) in England.

    It called the sanction for alleged racism an example of English football’s lack of “cultural and linguistic knowledge.”

    The 33-year-old Uruguayan used the word “negrito” in an Instagram post after the club’s victory over Southampton on Nov. 29, before taking it down and apologising.

    He said it was intended as an expression of affection to a friend.

    On Thursday the FA said the comment was “improper and brought the game into disrepute”, fined Cavani 100,000 pounds and ordered him to complete “face-to-face education” as part of his punishment.

    The academy, an association dedicated to protecting and promoting the Spanish language used in Uruguay, said it “energetically rejected the sanction.”

    “The English Football Association has committed a serious injustice with the Uruguayan sportsman … and has shown its ignorance and error in ruling on the use of language, and in particular Spanish, without noting all its complexities and contexts,” the academy said in a statement.

    “In the context that it was written, the only value that can be given to negrito —— and particularly because of the diminutive use —— is affectionately.”

    Words referring to skin colour, weight and other physical characteristics are often used among friends and relations in Latin America, especially in the diminutive, the academy said.

    In that context they are expressions of tenderness and are often used independently of the subject’s appearance.

    Manchester United said Cavani chose not to contest the charge out of respect for the FA and the “fight against racism in football”.

    “My heart is at peace because I know that I always expressed myself with affection according to my culture and way of life,” he wrote on Instagram

  • Injury time goal gives Uruguay 2-1 victory over Chile

    Injury time goal gives Uruguay 2-1 victory over Chile

    Substitute Maxi Gomez scored in injury time to give Uruguay a barely deserved 2-1 win over Chile on Thursday.

    The win did get the home side off to a victorious start in their opening World Cup qualifying match for Qatar 2022.

    Uruguay took the lead six minutes before half-time when Luis Suarez scored a penalty kick, awarded after handball and with the aid of the video assistant referee (VAR).

    Alexis Sanchez got the equaliser for Chile 10 minutes into the second half when he took a neat pass from Charles Aranguiz and slid an angled shot into the net with his right foot.

    With the South American qualifiers twice pushed back from the scheduled start in March, it was almost a year since either team had played a full international.

    Both sides tired as the game looked like petering out at a fan-free Centenario stadium in Montevideo.

    However Gomez, who had only been on the field five minutes, would have none of that as he gathered a clearance on the edge of the box two minutes into stoppage time.

    He rifled a shot low into the net to give the two-times world champions a winning start to their campaign.

    The top four teams in South America’s 10-team group qualify automatically for Qatar 2022 and the fifth-placed side goes into an inter-regional playoff.

    Uruguay’s next game is away at Ecuador on Tuesday, while Chile return to Santiago to face Colombia the same day.

    In the evening’s earlier game, Peru and Paraguay drew 2-2 in a match that came alive with four goals in the second half.

    Andre Carrillo put Peru in front after 53 minutes, only for the home side to snatch the lead with a double from Angel Romero.

    However, Carrillo was not to be outdone and grabbed an equalizer with five minutes remaining.

  • Diego Forlan sacked by hometown club after 11 games

    Diego Forlan sacked by hometown club after 11 games

    Former Manchester United and Uruguay international striker Diego Forlan has been sacked as head coach of Penarol after just 11 matches in charge of his boyhood club.

    The announcement came a day after Penarol’s 2-0 home defeat to Wanderers, a result that left them seventh in the Uruguayan first division standings.

    “Penarol thanks Diego Forlan for his contribution during these eight months in charge of the first team,” the Montevideo club said in a tweet posted late Monday.

    Forlan guided Penarol to four wins, three draws and four defeats after assuming the managerial role last December. His spell was interrupted by a five-month hiatus caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.

    The 41-year-old expressed gratitude to the club he first joined as an 11-year-old.

    “Thank you for the opportunity you gave me, it made me proud to lead Club Atletico Penarol,” he said on Twitter. “To the players, thank you very much for your patience, your respect, your dedication and your teachings.

    “To all those who work day in, day out, and in silence, thank you from the bottom of my heart. Finally, thanks to the fans for the love. I have no regrets.”

    Forlan, who was capped 112 times for Uruguay, retired from football in August last year after a professional career spanning more than two decades.

    Voted the best player of the 2010 FIFA World Cup in South Africa, in which the Celeste reached the semifinals, he was also a key member of the Uruguay team that won the 2011 Copa America in Argentina.

    Forlan’s career included spells at Manchester United, Atletico Madrid, Inter Milan and Villarreal. He returned to Penarol as a player in 2015 and 2016, scoring eight goals in 30 league outings.

    Penarol finished runners-up in last year’s first division title race after losing 1-0 to champions Nacional in the competition decider. Enditem

  • Penalty miss against Uruguay haunt my life – Gyan

    Ghana and NorthEast United forward Asamoah Gyan has not forgotten about the penalty miss in the 2010 World Cup quarter-finals against Uruguay, asserting it will haunt him for the rest of his life.

    The Black Stars made it to their first-ever quarter-final in just their second appearance at the World Cup.

    They were poised to become the first African country to progress to the semi-finals when Ghana were given a penalty towards the end of extra-time. This was after Luiz Suarez was given a red card for using his hand to stop the ball from going in.

    Suarez was given a straight red card and Gyan missed the preceding penalty by playing it high into the stands, and it’s been a bitter pill to swallow ever since.

    “Till today, any time alone, it still haunts me,” the 34-year old told TV3 Ghana.

    “Sometimes I feel like the world should go back again so I can redeem myself, but I know this is something that will haunt me for the rest of my life.

    “I accept that because there is nothing I can do about it. I went there to save my country, but I ended up being the villain, which I accept because I know how people feel.

    “It was a disaster. It was crazy. I was also calm because I couldn’t sleep the whole night because I was crying the whole night until morning so I was somehow calm because I couldn’t cry anymore.

    “All I was telling myself was to get another chance because I knew I could redeem myself even if not football, something else. But even if I don’t, my kids will do it one day.”

    Gyan is Ghana’s leading marksman of all time with 51 goals from 109 caps.

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