Archive for January, 2010

As per FIFA, our Group rivals (France, South Africa & Mexico) have lined-up multiple friendlies to prepare them for the World Cup while Uruguay’s only confirmed friendly match as of today is still the one set for March 3rd against Switzerland. Should someone ring the alarm and start wondering out-loud what’s going on with La AUF?  Mexico has 8 friendly matches lined up and all we could muster is 1 and maybe 2 more? Depending if you believe the rumors that Uruguay will play Chile & Belgium sometime in May. Something aint right here. La AUF does realize that the World Cup is being held this year and not in 2011? right? As of today all we have is one game and we should consider ourselves lucky that we have that friendly lined up but the truth is that Uruguay is still unable to secure quality friendlies that are worth a damn. Read the rest of this entry »

On 15 May 2004, South Africa was chosen as the host for the 2010 World Cup. As part of a new FIFA policy (later abandoned) to rotate the event between football confederations, only African nations had been allowed to bid. Read the rest of this entry »

Watching Atlético Mineiro take on América-Mineiro, I was expecting to see Fabian Carini behind the posts but once again La Facha has been demoted to the bench. Vanderlei Luxemburgo (Atlético-MG’s coach) is auditioning the spot, unsure if to go with Carini or Aranha (see picture). Who are the fans behind? Believe it or not Carini. After América-MG scored on Atlético, the fans began chanting for Carini who was watching the game from the bench. I couldn’t believe it myself. Read the rest of this entry »

It’s that time again… time to play mad scientist and draw crazy formations using our beloved Celeste. This time though I’m using 3 formations that are ultra-defensive with an eye on the 2010 World Cup. So I’m going with a 5-4-1 formation, a 3-3-1-3 formation and finally a 4-6-0 formation. Sure these are bizarre formations that will never see the light of day, but they should be pondered nonetheless. Read the rest of this entry »

Mourinho used 4-5-1 @ Chelsea

Supposedly, in the first international match played between England and Scotland, England played a 1-1-8 (or 1-2-7) while Scotland played a 2-2-6. In the first World Cup played in 1930, Uruguay won playing with a 2-3-5 formation and in the 1950 World Cup, Uruguay played with a 4-3-3. It would appear that as the sport has evolved, it has seen a reduction in the number of forwards. Consequently, some consider the 4-5-1 as the next step in the evolution. Some would classify the 4-5-1 as “ultra-defensive”, perhaps because it has been used successively by the Italian team which has a reputation for defensive play. Others would argue that it provides the right balance between offense and defense.

There quite a few variations of the 4-5-1: Read the rest of this entry »

Although reported by Quenonino, this story was originally announced on todosobrecamisetas.blogspot.com, it seems Uruguay has finally settled on the official World Cup jersey they’ll wear in the 2010 World Cup. Puma is still the brand the Celeste will slap on their shoulders… but it seems to me a retro-design inspired by the jersey, Uruguay wore in the 1990 World Cup? Read the rest of this entry »