Photo courtesy of fr.fotopedia.com
Oscar Tabarez is a brave man.
Currently, the captain of a rapidly sinking ship, Tabarez has managed to steer Uruguay incredibly close to the precipice of non-qualification for the 2014 World Cup. Not only do Uruguay face not qualifying for the World Cup in Brazil, they also face being usurped by Peru who will go above Uruguay should they win their game in hand.
Dark times could lay ahead for La Celeste if they do fail to qualify with one of the potential repercussions being that the whole country will be adversely affected by Uruguay missing out.
National embarrassment aside, there’s also the monetary aspect to consider with qualification for the tournament alone being worth $10 million to the Uruguayan FA. Then there’s the respective rewards based on progression through the tournament with $35 million in prize money waiting for them should Uruguay win the World Cup.
It’s plain to see that, financially, the implications would be severe for Uruguay yet possibly not as severe as the effect non-qualification would have on businesses such as replica shirt manufacturers. When England failed to qualify for Euro 2008, shirt manufacturer Umbro were forced to issue a profit warning due to the huge amount of unsold replica shirts they failed to sell. It stands to reason that a similar situation may occur should Uruguay not qualify.
Uruguay have struggled unusually all over the pitch recently with the team finding it difficult to put the ball in the net at the right end whilst simultaneously trying to keep a clean sheet at the other. Luis Suarez and Edinson Cavani, both top goal scorers in their respective leagues, are playing like they couldn’t hit a cows rear with a banjo. It’s almost as if the telepathic-like link that they once had has been severed and now both just run around like those little men on that vibrating board game everyone had when they were kids.
It’s not just the attack to blame though. Uruguay have leaked so many goals in qualifying this time round that it has often looked like they have four colanders playing at the back. In fact the colanders may actually have leaked less goals.
The two center backs Diego Lugano and Diego Godin are not just guilty of poor distribution and positional errors, they are also guilty of zonal marking rather than man marking and often venture too far forward allowing teams in behind them. Sebastian Coates, the defender who played at the Copa America in 2011 when Uruguay won the tournament, should be playing. He’s taller, younger and more mobile then both Lugano and Godin and would add an extra threat in the box.
Uruguay have to get it together over the next five games. They could really do with Lionel Messi renouncing his nationality and swearing fealty to Uruguay but that’s probably not going to happen. More realistically, Tabarez has to pick up his wounded squad and motivate them sufficiently to gain positive results in the next five games.
Unfortunately, three of those games are against Colombia, Ecuador and Argentina. Uruguay should brace themselves as a nation for the worst.
James Hilton is a soccer writer for www.RantSports.com. Follow him on Twitter , Facebook or add him to your network on Google
