World Cup Preview: Uruguay

In Group A with France, South Africa and Mexico.

Appearances: 10 appearances. Won in 1930 and 1950. Last appearance was in 2002.

Current FIFA Ranking (As of Feb.3 2010) : 21

Captain: Diego Lugano (Center Back)

Leading Scorer in Qualifying: Diego Forlan (7 goals)

Key Injuries: None

Team Overview: As like previous years, this Uruguay team is very inconsistent and was only able to reach this year's World Cup by defeating Costa Rica in a home/away playoff game. Like most South American teams, they have a heavy emphasis on the attacking portion of their game. Diego Forlan is a scoring machine. He twice won the Pichichi Trophy award, given to the top goal scorer in La Liga, and the European Golden Boot, which is given to Europe's leading scorer.

A problem that is currently plaguing the Uruguayans is they have yet to find their top goalie. Currently they have four different players vying for the opportunity to represent their country as the number one keeper. Juan Castillo was looking to lock up the spot two years ago before tearing ligaments in his knee. He has struggled to find his form since then and 23-year-old Nestor Muslera has taken the pole position after performing well in the final qualifying games. Look for Muslera to be the keeper in June.

Key Player: With much of the attention expected to be on Forlan, the key player for Uruguay may be Luiz Suarez. The speedy 23-year-old found his scoring touch in the past couple of years and scored 5 goals in qualifying. Playing opposite of Forlan should give him ample chances to make a difference. With the recent emergence of midfielder Nicolas Loderio, both Forlan and Suarez should be seeing a lot of the ball. The one problem that has plagued Suarez is his propensity to get yellow cards.

Prediction: Round of 16 loss to Argentina

The final squad will not be announced until June 10 but here are the players in the running to make the team.

Match Schedule

Sports Illustrated Profile