Uruguay Football Team

The Uruguayan national football team represents Uruguay in international association football and is controlled by the Uruguayan Football Association, the governing body for football in Uruguay. The current head coach is Óscar Tabárez. The Uruguayan side is commonly referred to as La Celeste (The Sky Blues) or Los Charrúas.

Uruguay are the current reigning South American champions, having won the 2011 Copa América. Uruguay have won the Copa América a record 15 times. The team has twice won the FIFA World Cup, including the first World Cup in 1930 as hosts, defeating Argentina 4–2 in the final. They won their second title in 1950, upsetting hosts Brazil 2–1 in the final match. They have won the Gold Medals in football at the Summer Olympics twice, in 1924 and 1928, before the creation of the World Cup. They also won the 1980 Mundialito, a tournament among former World Cup champions. In total, Uruguay have won 20 official titles, an international record for the most international titles held by a country.

Their success is amplified by the fact that the nation has a very small population of around 3.5 million inhabitants. Uruguay is by far the smallest country in the world to have won a World Cup. (The second smallest country, by population, to have won the World Cup is Argentina with a total population of over 40 million people.) Uruguay is also the smallest country ever to win any World Cup medals; only six nations with a currently smaller population than Uruguay's have ever participated in any World Cup: Northern Ireland (3 times), Slovenia (twice), Wales, Kuwait, Jamaica and Trinidad and Tobago. Uruguay is also the smallest nation to win Olympic gold medals in any team sport.

Uruguay's performance at the 2010 World Cup comes as little surprise to many people who have followed its wins and dreams. The Uruguayan team's, a fierce competitor, took a quantum leap forward in 1997 as they came close to winning the FIFA World Under-20 Cup in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia's capital, finishing ahead of Ghana and Ireland. Since then, the national side did not win the tournament, but they paving the way for the Uruguayan World Cup soccer team in South Africa in June 2010.
In sub-Saharan Africa, the world's eyes were focused on Uruguay. Why? The national side -made up largely of unknown players-- became one of the world's top four squads, knocking out the bookies' favorite, Brazil -made up of world-famous footballers. Upon beating four squads: South Africa, Mexico,South Korea and Ghana, the nation- which had traditionally been a leader in the first half of the 20th century-- has become the first Latin American country in 8 years to reach the men's semi-finals.
Uruguay's achievement came despite a serie of obstacles: a small nation of about 4 million of people, exodus of players, lack of sponsors and traditional rivals (Brazil and Argentina). In addition to these obstacles, the country holds one of the lowest sports budget in the Western Hemisphere.Nonetheless, two factors have contributed to development of soccer: human development and determination.

1)- Human Development: Due to its notable human development - healthcare, nutrition, education and recreation--Uruguay is widely considered to be one of the developing world's most respeted democratic countries -the envy of many Spanish-speaking republics in the region-- since the mid-1980s. By the mid-1990s, the UNDP's Human Development Index ranked Uruguay - which does not have mineral resources such as oil, gas, silver and gold-- 32nd out of 173 nations and dependencies. In other words, one of the government's first priorities is to improve the lives of Uruguay's children. In fact, these policies have contributed to improve the country's athletic performance, as well as the national pride. As a result, the under-17 national football team won the right to compete in the 1991 World Junior Championships, a participation that it repeated in 1999, 2005 and 2009.
2)-Determination and Passion: If one word could ever describe the Uruguayan team it is "determination". Despite being made up of unknown players, the national side did not feel intimidated by world-famous squads such as France (which failed to measure up to predictions), Germany and the Netherlands. At the 2010 World Cup, Uruguay, one of the smallest republics geographically in the Western Hemisphere, had earned the respect of fans and experts by their determination and passion. Since then, they, the Uruguayan squad, were aware of the nation's history as one of the greatest
Dictatorship & Soccer
Following the 1973 auto-coup, the nation's then Head of State José María Bordaberry, an anti-Marxist strongman, established a de facto dictatorship, whereupon Uruguay was marked by several poblems. The country's international image had been damaged by the rule's poor human rights and anti-democratic projects. Under this atmosphere, sport was not one of the priorities of the Uruguayan dictators, unlike other tyrants in the region, including Argentina's Jorge Rafael Videla (1976-1981) and Peru's Juan Velasco Alvarado (1968-1975).
Year after year, the military regime reversed most of the Olympic policies. In fact, football, which had fostered national identity in the first half of the 20th century, entered a period of decline. After Uruguay's participation in the World Cup in West Germany in June 1974, where it came in 14th place, the nation, for example, lost the chance to win an Olympic medal as it refused to send soccer players to the 1976 Summer Olympic in Montreal (Canada). Yet, its most unsuccessful year was 1977 when Uruguay lost 1-0 to Bolivia and could not compete in the 1978 World Cup. Without a doubt, the Uruguayan players, which once had defeated Brazil in Rio de Janeiro, were plagued by poor morale.
By July 1979, surprisingly the national side did not compete in the Pan American Games in San Juan de Puerto Rico (where they were the heavy-favorites). But it was not for lack of talent. Prior to this multi-sport meet, the Uruguayan players claimed the 1979 South American Under-20 Tournament. By the early 1980s, it decided not to participate in the Continental Olympic Tournament in Colombia. What's more, despite lifting the Golden Cup in Montevideo, the team, once again, failed to qualify for the 1982 World Cup as was not able to win the South American Elimination.
Amid economic stagnation, corruption and human right abuses, up to 200 soccer players left the nation. On the other hand, in 1984, the anti-Communist dictatorship stepped down after 11 years.
pioneers of soccer.Without a doubt, theseplayers are a symbol of hope and courage.