They have a good team, with many experienced players, including such prolific scorers as Luis Suarez and Edinson Cavani, and a wise coach Oscar Tabarez. Obviously the fans want Uruguay to do well in Russia, but is 2018 the right year to achieve success? History suggests that it is not - the South American side have shown practically all their best results at the World Cup in years ending in “0”.

Every 20 years

Let us remember the history. The first ever World Cup was held in Uruguay in 1930, and the home side won the gold medal. Twenty years later, in 1950, La Celeste triumphed in Brazil, sensationally beating the hosts in the decisive match at Maracana. Another twenty years passed, and Uruguay finished fourth in 1970, losing to Brazil in the semi-final and to West Germany in the third place match. The team’s performance in 1990 was not so impressive as they were eliminated in the Last 16, yet compared to 1982, 1994 or 1998, when La Celeste did not qualify for the World Cup at all, that was quite a success. And last but not least, in 2010 Uruguay sensationally took the fourth place again, and their leader Diego Forlan was named MVP of the tournament.

This pattern looks impressive, doesn’t it? In other years, Uruguay also enjoyed some success, such as the fourth place in 1954 or reaching the quarter-final in 1966, yet overall the team did rather poorly. At the last World Cup in 2014, La Celeste enjoyed a great start, finishing ahead of powerhouses England and Italy in the group, yet they were eliminated by Colombia in the Round of 16, and it was hardly the result the country had hoped for.

Goals should be no problem

But maybe it is going be different now? We will know that quite soon. As mentioned before, Uruguay have a few world-class players, and the captain Luis Suarez is the first in that list. At the previous World Cup, he went down in history for a scandal, as he bit Giorgio Chiellini during the match with Italy. Now the 31-year-old Barcelona forward has matured, he promised to behave in Russia better than four years ago in Brazil, and his qualities as a striker are not even being questions.

Scoring goals should not be a problem for Uruguay as the team also have Edinson Cavani, who has recently become the all-time top scorer of Paris Saint-Germain. But the team also have quality players in other lines - Fernando Muslera in the goal, Maxi Pereira and Diego Godin in defence, and Christian Rodriguez and Federico Valverde in midfield.

Bringing fresh blood

Valverde, who plays his club football at Deportivo La Coruna on loan from Real Madrid, will turn just 20 in July, and he is arguably the most promising Uruguayan footballer at the moment. In the recent years, the head coach Tabarez decided to give La Celeste some fresh blood, so he brought in a few more talented youngsters - beside Valverde, also Rodrigo Betancur from Juventus and Nahitan Nandez from Boca Juniors. These guys are not widely known in the football world yet, but the upcoming tournament in Russia is their chance to come to the fore.

When Tabarez took charge of La Celeste in 2006, some players did not even answer his phone calls. Following years of mediocre results, the national team had little prestige in the country, but the coach did his best to change that attitude. And he succeeded, having turned Uruguay into a side to be reckoned with. Now the team have played a solid qualifying tournament, finishing second behind Brazil, and obviously they would like to carry that form over to the final tournament. But will they be able to achieve big success in a year ending in “8”? Maybe their best bet is to wait until 2030…

Soccer / muslera

Baby face goalkeeper

Baby face goalkeeper

Baby face goalkeeper

Uruguay: wrong year for success?

Uruguay: wrong year for success?

Uruguay: wrong year for success?