Uruguay World Cup Team Blog

Week 13- Standings

Juan — Mon, 19 May 2008 04:21:52 +0000

PTS GP W D L +/-
River Plate 34 14 11 1 2 29
Peñarol 34 14 11 1 2 20
Def. Sporting 28 14 9 1 4 14
Liverpool 28 14 8 4 2 11
Nacional 28 14 9 1 4 11
Wanderers 20 14 6 2 6 -6
Progreso* 18 14 6 0 8 -6
Bella Vista 17 14 5 2 7 -6
Tacuarembó 17 14 5 2 7 -8
Juventud 16 14 4 4 6 -3
Rampla Jrs. 16 14 4 4 6 -14
C. Español 14 14 4 2 8 -6
Cerro 14 14 4 2 8 -10
Fénix 12 14 3 3 8 -5
Danubio F.C. 12 14 3 3 8 -10
Miramar* 11 14 3 2 9 -11

Catania Get Mal-ucky, Inter Win Title

Juan — Mon, 19 May 2008 04:13:10 +0000

Coming into the final week, Roma and inter knew what they had to do in order to win the Scudetto. On the other hand both Catania and Parma knew what they had to do in order to avoid heading to Serie B. Neither side was going to back down regardless of their particular circumstance.
Catania were shocked when Mirko Vucinic pulled a rabbit out of his hat sweeping past two Catania defenders put the giallorossi on top in just the ninth minute of play. Outside of that the Romans were not able to generate much other than a few sporadic plays that helped them move the ball out of danger.
During this time, Inter saw their 16th title slip away when they were not able to generate anything against Parma who were hoping for a miracle in Sicily.
But on this afternoon it was Zlatan Ibrahimovic answering the prayers. He would open the scoring in the 61st minute with a header that left Parma’s fans looking at the inevitable. In the 34th all doubt was put aside and this inspired the Sicilians back home to remove any doubt.
The Catania offense then took it a step further and even scored but it was called off due to an offside. But in the dying minutes, a bounce left the ball in front of the Uruguayan international Jorge Martínez who led the explosion of joy in this portion of the Mediterranean island.
They were saved but the skies told a different story in Parma when they saw a team that was among the European giants a little less than a decade ago simply fade after the Parmalat collapse. The rain must have been an indicator as to what was to happen at the Enio Tardini. The skies led the tears that were rolling down onto the pitch as no one could stop the inevitable on either end of the table.

No Chicken For Peñarol

Juan — Fri, 16 May 2008 17:57:44 +0000

Former Juventus star Ruben Olivera will be out of this weekend’s vital match against Tacuarembó. A muscle strain forced aurinegro coach Mario Saralegui to rest his talisman in order to prevent any type of exacerbation to the injury and to have him ready for the final week of the season.

Olivera was coming off a dream performance against arch-rivals Nacional in the Uruguayan Superclásico. His two goals were vital in Peñarol’s 4-2 win that helped them keep pace with River Plate.

Part 1

Part 2

Fucile Operated On

Juan — Fri, 16 May 2008 16:56:43 +0000

Porto defender Jorge Fucile will be out of the upcoming friendlies against Turkey and Norway as La Celeste prepare for their World Cup Qualifier matches against Venezuela and Peru.

The Uruguayan international will have shoulder surgery on May 29th that will require him to stay off the pitch for most of the summer. The former Liverpool star earned only five caps prior to his injury a few weeks ago. He quickly became an integral part of Oscar Washington Tabárez’ backline.

Uruguay are currently in sixth place with only four points in four matches.

Uruguayan Call Up For Norway

Juan — Thu, 15 May 2008 17:15:53 +0000

Oscar Washington Tabárez called up 20 players for a series of European friendlies against Turkey in Bochum, Germany and then a few days later in Oslo against Norway. Tabárez left out of the list Fenerbahçe´s Diego Lugano, Botafogo´s Juan Castillo and Monaco´s Diego Pérez who are injured. Sebastián Abreu (River Plate-ARG), Álvaro González (Boca Juniors-ARG), Diego Scotti (Argentinos Juniors-ARG) were not called up because they are presently in the middle of the Argentine Clausura as well as all Uruguayans that are participating in Mexico.

Fabián CARINI (Real Murcia-ESP)
Martín SILVA (Defensor Sporting)
Diego GODÍN (Villarreal-ESP)
Carlos VALDÉZ (Reggina-ITA)
Gerardo ALCOBA (Peñarol)
Bruno SILVA (Ajax-NED)
Martín CÁCERES (Recreativo Huelva-ESP)
Damián SUÁREZ (Defensor Sporting)
Wálter GARGANO (Napoli-ITA)
Sebastián EGUREN (Villarreal-ESP)
Maximiliano PEREIRA (Benfica-POR)
Diego ARISMENDI (Nacional)
Ignacio GONZÁLEZ (Mónaco-FRA)
Roberth FLORES (River Plate)
Cristian RODRÍGUEZ (Benfica-POR)
Henry GIMÉNEZ (River Plate)
Luis SUÁREZ (Ajax-NED)
Sebastián FERNÁNDEZ (Defensor Sporting)
Diego FORLÁN (Atlético Madrid-ESP)
Edinson CAVANI (Palermo-ITA)

Bava Key In BA Draw

Juan — Thu, 15 May 2008 17:10:39 +0000

Uruguayan international Jorge Bava played well despite limited duty in Boca Juniors´ 2-2 draw against Atlas. He was not threatened a great deal, he cut off some crosses in vital times, and had that stroke of luck that hot keepers sometimes have.

Meanwhile teammate Álvaro González came in for a Jonathan Maidana who seems to be on his final legs at Boca. His confidence looks shot and his ability deteriorated severly out as left back. Álvarez was able to help the Boca defense solidify and give the Xeneizes another gear when Bava´s goal underwent a barrage of shots that led to Julio César Cáceres´ goal in the 75th minute. Despite that Bava came out unscathed, and González´effort went for naught as Los Zorros drew even in the 89th minute couretsy of a header by Jorge Torres, beating Mauricio Caranta to the ball.

Now Bava and Atlas have the away goals in their favor as they will face off at the Estadio Jalisco in Guadalajara next Tuesday.

Diogo Out For Six Months

Juan — Tue, 13 May 2008 18:06:25 +0000

Zaragoza defender Carlos Diogo will not be on the pitch to help Los Maños in a last-ditch effort to stay in first division as they face Mallorca at the Son Moix. He was operated after tearing his ACL in a match against Valencia well over a week ago. In this match Diogo bravely fought on to help out his team in any way he could since the team had no more subsitutions. Fortunately this action did not cause any damage to the internal structure of the joint.

The exploration and operation was done in Madrid and the former Real Madrid player is now facing a tough road ahead as well as uncertainty as far as to his future with the side in the event that they get relegated. This would be the ultimate downfall for a team that was being touted to make a great deal of noise- on the other side of the table.

Zaragoza´s scenario is pretty complicated. A loss or a draw on their part has them with one foot in the grave and another on a handful of marbles. Not even a win will guarantee them a spot in first division, if Osasuna and Recreativo win their games.

Progreso Go Down With Last-Minute Goal

Juan — Mon, 12 May 2008 00:12:40 +0000

Progreso seemed to have lived for another day, but a goal in the dying minutes of the game against Rampla Juniors forced them to pack their bags and join Miramar Misiones in second division next season. Even though they took the lead twice in the first half and Matías Riquero contributing with a hat-trick it would not be enough for Progreso.

He wold be the reason why the Progreso fans though that they would be coming out of this match with three points. Rampla would draw even in the 89th minute courtesy of Javier Benia and then a minute later the tales would turn as Gastón Puerari said goodbye to Progreso with two weeks left in the season.

Standings- Week 13

Juan — Mon, 12 May 2008 00:02:50 +0000

Teams GP W D L GF GA +/- Pts.
1. River Plate 13 10 1 2 44 16 +28 31
2. Peñarol 13 10 1 2 33 14 +19 31
3. Nacional 13 9 1 3 29 16 +13 28
4. Def. Sporting 13 9 0 4 36 23 +13 27
5. Liverpool 13 8 3 2 32 20 +12 27
6. Wanderers 13 6 2 5 16 21 -5 20
7. Bella Vista 13 5 2 6 16 21 -5 17
8. Tacuarembó F.C. 13 5 2 6 16 23 -7 17
9. Progreso* 13 5 0 8 18 26 -8 15
10. Cerro 13 4 2 7 12 21 -9 14
11. Juventud 13 3 4 6 13 17 -4 13
12. Central Español 13 4 1 8 12 18 -6 13
13. Rampla Juniors 13 3 4 6 12 27 -15 13
14. Danubio 13 3 2 8 21 31 -10 11
15. Miramar Mis.* 13 3 2 8 15 25 -10 11
16. Fénix 13 2 3 8 16 22 -6 9

*- Relegated

Outplayed, Outmuscled, Outmanned

Juan — Sun, 11 May 2008 21:00:54 +0000

In a span of 72 hours Nacional was left out of both the Copa Libertadores and the domestic tournament. Peñarol seemed doomed just two weeks ago, but now they are even with River Plate atop the standings. The Carbonero’s 4-2 win against Nacional in the 183rd edition of this rivalry put them closer to ending that dryspell. If there was any indication as to how important this game was to the Carbonero, one need to go no further than expression on Mario Saralegui’s face as soon as the final whistle blew.

Peñarol did everything that they had to do in this match to show their superiority on the pitch. They owned the pace, they were much stronger in their midfield and everywhere else at the Estadio Centenario. Ruben Olivera was undoubtedly the man of the match as his ability to break down a suspect Nacional defense. Antonio Pacheco opened the scoring for Peñarol in the fifth minute off a brilliant free kick. Olivera, who is currently on loan from Juventus began to shine and justified his return to Uruguay when in the 20th minute he made a brilliant individual play to double the advantage for the carboneros.

Yet despite this stretch Nacional were able to claw back and get closer to equalizing when Bruno Fornaroli made it 2-1 in the 43rd, but Carlos Bueno 3-1 just a couple of minutes later. Nacional would then go to the dressing room with a one-goal deficit after Nicolás Bertolo made it 3-2. This gave the Tricolor reason be optimistic for the second half.

That optimism would be evaporated quickly.

Olivera would score coming out of the dressing room to change the mentality of the game. While Peñarol controlled the pace of the game as well as possession, Nacional lost their heads- and players as well. In a span of 12 minutes Adrián Romero, Mathías Cardaccio, and Bruno Fornaroli were sent off as they all fouled Carlos Bueno. (Charlie Good) was bad for Nacional as he caused nightmares for the entire team. Bueno was a factor on his end of the pitch as well as on the attack. Those three red cards were the death sentence for Nacional as Peñarol now share the lead with River Plate with two weeks left in the Uruguayan Clausura. El Bolso did get lucky and not have a fourth player sent off, causing a premature end to the match.

For Nacional is was the conclusion of a week that saw their dreams of 1988 come to life quickly get snatched from them. Meanwhile, for their arch-rivals, it was a turnaround that saw them two weeks ago literally out of the title race.

Remaining Matches

River Plate
@Wanderers
vs. Juventud

Peñarol
@ Tacuarembó
vs. Rampla Juniors