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Till the all conquering Hungarians, led by the great Ferenc Puskas beat them in 1954, Uruguay, as a nation, were undefeated in the World Cup. They lifted the inaugural World Cup on home soil in 1930, and then followed Maracanazo, an incident which haunts Brazil to the day. What was it about those Uruguayan teams that this generation have not been able to reproduce?
Maybe, they have just fallen behind because of the sheer weight that numbers bring. Uruguay is a tiny nation with a population of roughly 3.5 million, and to produce generation after generation of quality footballers is anything but easy because of that. But boy! Uruguay have produced some magical footballers since 1930. Those who have graced the biggest stage in football with aplomb.
Uruguay’s footballers have genreally stood for being bullish, robust and like the current team, mosr Uruguayan teams have been very hard to beat. Here is how Uruguay would look in a 3-5-1-1 formation.
Goalkeeper – Ladislao Mazurkiewicz
Mazurkiewicz, star of three consecutive World Cups, was considered by many of his peers, including greats like Lev Yashin and Gordon Banks, as one of the finest goalkeepers of his era. Standing at 5' 10”, Mazurkiewicz was nicknamed "El Chiquito”(The Little one) by his team-mates. Despite being considered a human wall by adversaries in 1970, he will be forever remembered for something not as rewarding.
This.
In 1966, Mazurkiewicz was chosen as the best goalkeeper of that World Cup, ahead of Gordon Banks, of eventual champions England.
Defenders: Jose Nasazzi – Jose Emilio Santamaria – Dario Pereyra
Nasazzi will forever be remembered as the first ever captain to lift the World Cup. But, he was much more than just that. Known as “The Great Marshall”, Nasazzi was frugal in letting goals in, and hated losing. He issued a famous rallying cry at half time in the 1930 World Cup final, which Uruguay won 4-2, after trailing 2-1 to bitter South American rivals Argentina, at half time.
Having played for Real Madrid and Nacional, Santamaria won championship after championshiop in both countries. Santamaria played a crucial role in Uruguay finishing 4th at the 1954 World Cup. However, after that, he shifted allegiance to Spain, representing La Roja 16 times. Dario Pereyra will be remembered as one of the greatest defenders ever to grace Brazilian club football. He represented Uruguay in the 1986 World Cup. Alongwith Oscar, Pereya was the part of the greatest defensive partnership ever to play for Sao Paulo FC.
Wing Backs: Jose Leandro Andrade - Victor Rodriguez Andrade
Jose Leandro Andrade played at right wing back for Uruguay in the inaugural World Cup in 1930, and was named among the All Star team for the tournament. He was also a part of the Uruguayan team that won the two Olympic football tournaments preceding the World Cup in 1924 and 1928. IN his prime, Andrade combined defensive and attacking work to great effect, and ensured that Uruguay’s right flank was always in good shape.
Victor Rodriguez Andrade, nephew of Jose Leandro, was a left wing back. He was part of the great Uruguayan team that won the 1950 World Cup, and although he was one of the younger members of the squad, he played in all 4 matches. In the final, Rodriguez Andrade’s unenviable job was to mark Zizinho, something that he did to perfection, aprt from one moment, when let Zizinho assist Brazil’s goal. However fate was not to deny Uruguay and they won that World Cup.
Defensive Midfielder: Obdulio Varela
Obdulio Varela is widely called Uruguay's greatest ever footballer. In 1950, when Uruguay won the World Cup, in one of the most remembered World finals ever. As Brazil began to sit back in that game, Uruguay were catapulted by Varela into playing a different level of football altogether. Varela in his pomp, was a midfield destroyer, who did all the dirty work, so that the forwards in front of him, could play their natural game without any inhibition.
MIDFIELDERS: Enzo Francescoli – Juan Alberto Schiaffino
Noted for his grace, and brilliant ability on the ball, Francescoli was part of the Uruguayan teams that played in the 1986 and 1990 World Cups. However, both those campaigns ended with limited success for Uruguay. Francescoli's legacy however will live on for a long long time. It is siad that his style and grace on the ball inspired a certain Zinedine Zidane so much so, that Zizou has even named one of his sons after Francescoli.
Schiaffino was among the proagonists alongwith Varela, in Uruguay’s improbable win in the 1950 World Cup. Although everyone remembers the goal that Alcides Ghiggia scored to win Uruguay the final game, it was Schiaffino who started the comeback, by netting the equalizer.
Forwards: Hector Scarone – Diego Forlan
Dribbling. Vision. Powerful shot. Deft finish. You name it, Scarone had it. All the attirbutes of a top striker. Scarone led Uruguay's frontline in the 1930 World Cup, and although he scored only one goal in the tournament,he was celebrating a Uruguayan victory in the final. From 1930 untill 2011, Scarone stood as Uruguay's top scorer in International Football.
Diego Forlan is modern Uruguay's answer to Scarone. Forlan will go into his 3rd World Cup in Brqazil in 2014, after two contrasting tournaments. One in 2002, when Uruguay were knocked out in the group stages; and the other in 2010, which was a fairytale. Forlan won the Golden Ball for the Best Player in the tournament in 2010, and almost single-handedly took Uruguay to 4th place.
If Uruguay do well in 2014, there could be a few alterations to this list, and Luis Suarez and co. will be urged by all of Uruguay to go out and repeat what happened the last time that the World Cup was held in Brazil.
You can read the greatest XI of other teams here: FIFA World Cup Greatest XIs
