Uruguayan Football History
In August 1913, Montevideo hosted a Brazilian football team for the first time when a combined São Paulo league side toured the Río de la Plata. While the first official Uruguay-Brazil international match took place in 1916, the Paulista visit was no less significant. Continue reading “[Footballing] Blackness in a White Nation: Uruguay vs Brazil, 1913”
Luis Suárez is just one goal away from equalling Uruguay’s all-time World Cup scoring record. If he isn’t already, he’ll soon be considered the greatest striker – if not footballer – in the country’s history. But most remain unaware of the player whose record Suárez is about to break, Óscar Míguez, who holds the record of 8 goals scored at two World Cups (5 in 1950 and 3 in 1954). Continue reading “Óscar Míguez”
When one says ‘Uruguay midfield’ the first thing that comes to mind is probably the head of Egidio Arévalo Ríos. Who could forget that little human Pac-Man, hounding opponents alongside Diego Pérez at the 2010 World Cup and 2011 Copa América? That combative midfield has become symbolic of the current generation of Uruguayan football and a central, seemingly natural expression of the mythical Garra Charrúa. The country has had little option. So insignificant in size, Uruguay has had to fight for everything, stretching its resources to achieve near impossible feats. Continue reading “The Return of the Combination: a Uruguay World Cup 2018 preview..”
Uruguayans always looked to the British. Since those early days in the open spaces of Punta Carretas, the Uruguayan’s relationship with the game of the ‘crazy English’ evolved from curiosity, to admiration, to imitation. Given the opportunity, the Uruguayan took the game and made it their own. They say from there developed that famous, home-grown Creole style, Continue reading “The 1909 Tottenham-Everton tour of the River Plate”
Ian Walker’s piece on Uruguay’s first scorer in the 1950 World Cup triumph over Brazil, Juan Schiaffino, made me think. Undoubtedly an extraordinary and unique talent, Schiaffino was also part of a special generation of Uruguayan footballers. Continue reading “Clásico de la Fuga: the day they never returned”
The first welfare state in the Americas. The first to field black players in international tournaments. The first South American champions, and the first world champions. They hosted the first World Cup. They invented the vuelta olimpica (the victory lap). Continue reading “Gardel”
“Those at FIFA are a bunch of old sons of bitches”
To those familiar with contemporary debates surrounding the governance of world football, the statement above is not shocking. When muttered by a current head of state however… Continue reading “‘Pepe’ and ‘La Celeste’: another re-think of the ‘garra Charrua’”
