The relationship between Spanish and Uruguayan football is often difficult to describe. Both countries have left an undeniable mark in the history of the game (and each other), but they have rarely ever met in official high profile matches. I suppose that this can also be attributed to Argentina and Brazil too, who have rarely, if ever, played Spain in official competitions. Yet, a historic bond does remain.
Over the century, Uruguay/Argentina/Brazil have fostered a deep connection (through players, clubs, friendships, contractors, similar playing styles, similar ideologies, a shared history, common ancestry etc) with Spanish, as well as Italian football. Almost to a tee, whenever I meet a Spanish football fan (old or young), they always express deep admiration and a sense of compatibility with Uruguayan football and its history.
Below, you can take a walk through memory lane and rediscover the famous high profile clashes that were mentioned in the introduction. Some of these matches are rightly legendary and were key in forming the modern bond between the European and South American game.
Official Matches:
#1. 1950 FIFA World Cup: Final Group-
Uruguay 2 Spain 2
The opening match of the 1950 World Cup's final group phase and a classic match that saw Varela keep Uruguay's championship hopes alive vs. one of the greatest Spanish teams of all time.
#2. 1960 Intercontinental/World Club Championship Final-
Leg 1: Peñarol v. Real Madrid: 0-0
Leg 2: Real Madrid v. Peñarol: 5-1
Agg: Real Madrid wins: 5-1
The ending of the first ever Club World Championship final was a hard one to swallow. Peñarol had done well in the first leg, but that Real Madrid of legend Alfredo Di Stéfano was too much for them to handle. The 2nd leg was played in front of over 120,000 fans at the Santiago Bernabeu.
#3. 1966 Intercontinental/World Club Championship Final-
Leg 1: Peñarol v. Real Madrid: 2-0
Leg 2: Real Madrid v. Peñarol: 0-2
Agg: Peñarol wins 4-0
A legendary clash of the titans. Peñarol got won their 2nd World title in the very anticipated rematch in 1966, winning each leg 2-0. This time, Alberto Spencer returned with one of the greatest sides in the history of club football.
Peñarol captured their 2nd World Championship after a marvelous display at the Santiago Bernabeu.
Peñarol's convincing victory amazed the football world and inspired generations of South American footballers. Many pundits regard this as the greatest intercontinental final ever played.
#4. 1990 FIFA World Cup- Group Stage:
Uruguay 0 Spain 0
A very strong display, but a frustrating result. La Celeste had to settle for a draw after Ruben Sosa scuffed penalty shot during the game.
History
*Note: This comparison will only include competition that both Spain and Uruguay are eligible to compete in. No: UEFA or CONMEBOL only tournaments.
Uruguay (Population 3.3 million)
- 4x FIFA World Champions: 1924, 1928, 1930, 1950
- 5x FIFA World Cup Semi Finalists: 1930, 1950, 1954, 1970, 2010
- 6x FIFA Intercontinental/Club World Cups: 1961, 1966, 1971, 1980, 1982, 1988.
Spain (Population 47 million)
- 1x FIFA World Champions: 2010
- 2x FIFA World Cup Semi Finalists: 1950, 2010
- 6x FIFA Intercontinental/Club World Cups: 1960, 1974, 1998, 2002, 2009, 2011
Foxfang4
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Yorugua
FourThreeThree
Foxfang4
NicoGF
This team needs a major overhaul on the back line … Surely to god we can find a better pair of centre backs in amongst our nation. Other than that, I think Forlan needs to stay on the bench and resign himself to playing in the laet stages of games. Cebolla is a keeper, not sure Lodeiro made much of an impact. Aguierregarray played well.
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Dpiedra
Typical of Lodeiro… has a good game then follows it up with a so-so performance. We go back to the Question Mark.
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And this is what happens when we tend to think that “it worked” after having defeated a small team like Poland.. oh, we are great!!! this is how we should always play. No baby, wrong. It works, cause the opponent was weak. When are we gonna stop analyzing matches through results? A win is not always a good result, you have to see how you played, how you got the result, and who you played against. I’ll continue to ask for Ignacio “Nacho” Gonzalez. The creativity and ball distribution we need lies on his feet.
I know after this comment, I’ll play the role of culprit, and you will have somebody to insult.. but no, lets be honest with ourselves. This TEAM GOT NO MIDFIELD. NO MIDFIELD AT ALL.
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The midfield definitely needs some creativity and speed. Ruso, Rios, and even Gargano to a lesser degree should be thanked for their services through the Copa America and sent on their way. The back four? Needs work. If you are going to play vs Spain, Argentina, Brasil, etc … you can’t give up a free goal due to GK error or defensive lapses. That is what separates a good team from great. All of that being said … Spain is not bullet proof.
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Midfield complaints are always valid, but I saw monumental errors from Godin. Muslera looked terrible out there tonite.
These Spanish defenders were first class — they ultimately proved Suarez needs to leave EPL not because of the Media bullshit but because EPL defenses he’s been seeing suck, him and Cavani need to seek greener pastures in La Liga.
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Suarez will remain at liverpool for the medium-term. Cavani will be joining him in England next season. The Engish league is easily as strong as Spain’s
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muslera: 3 (first and third goals were his fault)
godin: 2 (many faults, 3 goals he was somewhat related)
lugano: 5
mono: 6
caceres: 7
lodeiro: 6.5
ruso: 6
tata: 5
cebolla: 6.5
suarez: 2
cavani: 4
chori: 6
aguirregaray: 5.5
do i forget someone?
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FORLAN but I think all of us wish we could forget him, too bad Tabarez keeps remembering him.
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we played spain without xavi hernandez and xabi alonso.. and we still have no clue about how to pass with accuracy that round thing called ball
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Passing wasn’t so bad, have to disagree with you but… Without a playmaker, passes added up to nothing.
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Nico … maybe a bit harsh with your assessment although not far off ..
muslera: 3 (first and third goals were his fault) – agree … you have to be solid in goal to win big games – all the saves in the worlds after don’t mean anything if you gift goals away
godin: 2 (many faults, 3 goals he was somewhat related)- agree … this tells me that should be his final game in the Celeste
lugano: 5 – I thought he was done after the last few WCQ’s … I saw nothing today to change my mind. There is a reason why PSG did not use him
mono: 6 – Agree … average at best
caceres: 7 – I think he has potential but needs better support in the central defence
lodeiro: 6.5 – was not very engaged in my view
ruso: 6- should retire from NT
tata: 5 – Love him in Nacional, but his better days are behind him … goodbye
cebolla: 6.5 Played well … I would give him an 8 and not just because of his goal
suarez: 2 – played better than a “2″ but still not where he should be
cavani: 4 – 6, but who’s counting
chori: 6
aguirregaray: 5.5
The last two came in after the 3-1 so it is tough to say. What about Forlan’s performance?
All of this being said, the way to go up front is with Suarez and Cavani. There are others around the world that have been discussed on this blog, but do you really see Tabarez calling other forwards not currently on the short list?
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dpiedra, i see we almost agree in everything there, with my player rankings. but look, if a player had a bad game, that, for me, doesnt mean he just has to leave the national team, just like when a player has a good game, he’s not become Pele overnight. i dont think godin has nothing more to offer, in fact i think he’s a very good defender who had a bad day, and who risked quite a bit today.
i have to admit even though i dislike lodeiro, today he had a good game, and understood the defensive roles, and showed some nice passes. pitty ramirez wasnt ready, and pitty nacho gonzalez hasnt been called for a while, after having had ONLY 1 bad game in the NT.
ruso should retire lol, i kind of agree. tata, not nt stuff.
suarez, i guess he played like a 2.. he gave away EVERY ball.. he’s just playing with the name, SUAREZ.. today he did nothing. chori castro needed 15 minutes to be better. but okay, suarez is suarez.. play him, start him, cause we know what he’s capable of.. but if hes playing like this, like today, just remove him.
forlan? even zalayeta would be more effective nowadays as a fake 9. forlan is done. simply done.
carlos sanchez, rodrigo mora, and nacho gonzalez, come here!!! and why not, a new goalkeeper just in case muslera continues like this. i hope he recovers soon..
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Nico GF!
Yes we need brand new midfield;Nacho,Carlos Sanchez,Rodrigo Mora,I would immediately adopt even youngsters;Rolan and Laxalt.(and Nico Lopez in attack)
But I know Tabarez would take Pais and some alike solid mediocrities.He collects them passionately.
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Dpiedra.
Tabarez will call up the same people, and as NT manager he is in his right, against Spain, I would say we didn’t look impressive, more like somewhere between mediocre and sloppy; now playing against Spain, with their passing and pressing and defensive neurosurgeon precision, will make Uruguay take notice that there is work to be done. Lets see if this game was useful to Uruguay’s long-term objectives: Qualifying to the 2014 World Cup.
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There should be a rule on this blog, when you say drop a player, you should say who to replace him with. All in all, I think Tabarez is doing a good job and we played well today except for the 2 stupid mistakes that led to the first 2 goals.
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No more rules, people have a hard time keeping up with the few rules we do have… LOL.
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oh come on yes we loss but i have no disgrace to losing to spain they are the best they are class and uruguay put up a fight we had some good (just good )passes i think they is a postive sign for uruguay it
on the postive it was indivual mistakes which cost us you cannot afford to make a mistake againest a team like spain.
RATINGS out of 5
MUSRELA 1.5
M.PERERIA 2
LUGANO 3.5
GODIN 2
CACERES 4
GONZALEZ 2
PEREZ 3
LODERIO 3
RODRIGUEZ 3.5
SUAREZ 2
CAVANI 3.5
SUBS
AREVALO RIOS 2
CASTRO 2
FORLAN 1.5
GARGANO 2
MAN OF MATCH: CACERES
FLOP OF MATCH: MUSRELA
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FIX THE MIDFIELD PLEASE CALL UP SANCHEZ
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nobody considered what could have happened if spain had their real midfield? xabi alonso & xavi hernandez. sounds familiar? when you think things cant go any worse, you think about those 2 players and you realize yeah, we are not just “far” from spain, we are “very far away”. lets stop the bullsh*t. lets not live in a lie.
this is beautiful, just beautiful, cant find another world:
where’s the uruguayan holding midfielder who can pass? and who’s tall. where’s the uruguayan enganche? out-and-out enganche? where’s our winger? you want names? maybe freitas, nacho gonzalez and carlos sanchez. you can also give a try to rodrigo mora as puntero or up-front, and zalayeta as a fake 9. maybe goicochea is a good GK? yeah we also suggest on this blog. we are critics, supporters, we have questions, but we also got answers. i really liked GONZALO CASTRO. chori.
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I actually saw quite a bit of positives. I see some improvement in trying to pass the ball around, in trying to press the ball aggressively in the opponents half, Cavani not playing midfield. All these things are “new” thinking from the Uruguayan brain-trust.
Some “old” thinking: Perez, Scotti, Silva. Coates not getting any minutes again.
Godin had a game to forget, but normally when a center back pushes that far forward, it’s because the CDM is not doing his job. In my mind, it felt like Uruguay was playing one or two man short.
Perez cannot get near the ball, he typically lays 10 yards off the ball allowing the opponent all the freedom in the world to make a play. Lodeiro and Gonzalez were continually covering for him.
And Forlan was completely invisible again. 6 more caps to get to 100 and that will probably mean the end of him. It looks like that he is fine coming off the bench as long as he gets his 100. It doesn’t look as we can look to him to be a “game-breaker” in those close qualifiers.
We are 1-2 players away from having a world-class side again. The CDM is where we need the most help.
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@ Nico,
I think you may haven’t seen the worse part of goicochea ! he is simply not up to the level.muslera is far above him in to the basics.goicochea may be Hollywood type a day but another 6 days he is below average.
chori is more than a descent player. people see him regularly knows he is great player. his movement is top notch so is his finishing.
what uruguay are lacking is there tough defensive works in the mid-field produced in past by arevalo and perez.thats gone. they are passing much better now but when you have a fragile defensive mid you can’t survive it until if you score in every single chance.
we need a front three who needs to be more aggressive and needs better penetration . for the next match lets start with chori-suarez-cavani.
and lets pray we can find the quality in the mid-field at this time.
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Yeah didn’t Goicoechea commit a blooper the other day?
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i said i wasnt sure on goicochea, havent seen anything impressive from him. hope cassio was uruguayan lol. (corinthians goalkeeper). but we have seen enough from chori, nacho, carlos sanchez, zalayeta, to start asking for them. at least a single chance.. in nacho’s case, maybe if not as a starter, as a sub.. imagine him against a tired spain unable to man-mark him, his creativeness and ball distribution could have caused headache.
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Watching the game, you got a strange impression that Uruguay was more interested in playing seriously than Spainiards, who were methodic and easily could get a higher gear, if needed – and still they won quite comfortably.
Muslera had a terrible night but I still don’t see anyone better than him around. The same is valid for Godin, who had a poor game. But had definitely seen the best of Lugano, Ruso, Arevalo, not even mentioning Forlan, who seemed totally useless, when he came in.
Unfortunalely I do not expect any serious changes from Maestro prior to qualifiers. We can only pray and hope that class of Suarez and Cavani is enough to secure the World Cup spot. But then, with no changes, it would most probably be first round exit.
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The changes are there ––– more minutes for Lodeiro, Gaston when he comes back & some new faces like Castro. As someone, I forget who
once said… “evolution not revolution.”
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Hand of Pod answered one of our questions…
http://handofpod.wordpress.com/2013/02/07/episode-90-previewing-the-2013-torneo-final-wondering-where-riquelme-will-go/
Jump to minute 56… we get a mention, which is always nice ––– remember spread the word.
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