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Uruguay’s success at the 2011 edition of Copa America surprised many. La Celeste were determined, diligent and clinical on their way to glory. Perhaps the quality of the team and the success of 2010 World Cup played an important role. The team’s ability to thrive on big occasions was exemplified by derailing Argentina’s campaign in the quarter-finals and swatting aside Paraguay in the final.
However, they enter this tournament in a period of transition having lost key players to retirement and also the wizard Luis Suarez to suspension. With the team in a process of rebuilding, it might be an uphill task to retain the title this time around. However, there are still some established names in the team who might well carry them all the way at Copa America.
We look at five players who play a key role in the progression of Uruguay in the tournament.
5) Carlos Sánchez
The River plate winger Carlos Sánchez had a stellar season for the club and has seen his fortunes rise over the course of the season. Having finished 2013/14 on loan with Puebla in Mexico, the 30-year-old right-sided winger contributed immensely to the club’s success with 11 goals and 7 assists. It is hence a no coincidence that the Argentine club went unbeaten during the first 15 matches of the season with Sanchez featuring in each of those matches.
The wide player is quick, skillful, has the uncanny ability to take on players as well as crossing the ball into the penalty box. The winger’s consistent and excellent showing at the club level prompted a call-up to the national team in 2014 although he lost out on a World Cup ticket. He has been an influential and a consistent member of the national setup for the past year and the onus will be on him to replicate his fine form at the Copa America.
Having emerged late in his career at the age of 30, Sánchez will provide the necessary width and attacking outlet when Tabarez’s men are building up play or counter-attacking.
4) Nicolás Lodeiro
Touted as one of the best emerging talents of South America, Lodeiro’s fall from potential stardom has been sensational. Even though his stocks have tanked, Lodiero will be pivotal for Uruguay. Boasting of a rigid defence and a lethal attack, the playmaker Lodeiro will be crucial in linking the two departments.
Without the suspended Suarez, retired Forlan or even the ousted Gaston Ramirez, Uruguay lack creativity, verve and imagination. Lodiero can play both as a deep-lying playmaker or a left-sided creative outlet and can bring a lot of quality and spark that La Celeste desire in their midfield.
Boasting creativity, low center of gravity and deceptively strong physique, Lodeiro could be a devastating attacking weapon from the centre or the flanks. He enjoyed a resurgent season at Botafogo in Brazil after failing to live up to expectations at Ajax, but he swiftly switched in the past year and performed well at Corinthians and now at Boca Juniors.
Aged 25, the left-footed attacking midfielder will finally look to stamp his authority in a major tournament. Tabarez may well be holding his attacking midfield optimism on Lodeiro's shining, hoping that he will finally be able to live up to his billing.
3) Fernando Muslera
One of the stars for Uruguay in the World Cup, it was Muslera who helped his team to victories over Italy and England to qualify for the last 16. However, Muslera was the victim of the magical James Rodriguez’s goal which still remains as one of the best scored in World Cup history.
Muslera has been part of La Celeste’s setup for the past few years and was hugely responsible for the team’s success in South Africa. A commanding presence in the box, Muslera is a perfect shot stopper who has amazing reflexes and an uncanny ability to read a situation well. Perhaps his biggest goalkeeping strength remains his remarkable ability to save penalties.
Muslera has gone from strength to strength in the past few years and he has just turned 25 with his best years ahead of him. Tabarez will rely heavily on Muslera’s presence and intelligence to supplement the organizational skills of Diego Godin to provide a defensive solidarity to the team. Uruguay’s defence of the Copa America will rest on the defensive department and more importantly on the shoulders of the goalkeeper Muslera.
2) Diego Godin
The Atletico Madrid centre back has established himself as one of the finest defenders in world football under the able guidance of Diego Simeone. Godin, the defensive bed-rock, has inspired Atletico’s doggedness, which has in turn broken the stranglehold of the monopoly of Barcelona and real Madrid in La Liga.
He will be the lynchpin for La Celeste in the absence of the former captain Diego Lugano and his influence is going to be vital in the tournament. Godin’s strengths lie in the fact that he is unbeatable in the air, a magnificent reader of the game and fearless in any tackle he goes into. His organization skills at the back are solid foundation for Oscar Tabarez to build a defensive approach on.
His aerial ability is not only important in the defense but also in the opposition box. He has the ability to score from set-pieces and quite often he pops up to score match winning goals. During last year’s World Cup he scored a late header to send Italy crashing out of the tournament and also scored the all-important goal for Atletico that won them the La Liga title last year.
He epitomizes the perfect defender, one who has the ability to influence matches in both penalty areas.
1) Edinson Cavani
Diego Godin and Fernando Muslera will play an important role at the back to ensure discipline and defensive stringency. However, to top the group and to progress in the latter stages of the tournament they will need the goalscoring prowess of Edison Cavani to come to the fore. The absence of Luis Suarez makes it all the more important that Cavani finds the back of the net regularly.
Cavani enters the tournament on the back of a sensational season at PSG where he was the second highest goal scorer for the club (behind Zlatan Ibrahimovic). He ended the season by scoring what proved to be the winning goal in the Coupe de France, having scored 10 times in his final seven Ligue 1 appearances, taking his tally in the 18 for the season. For all his success at the club level, Cavani has failed to replicate the same kind of performances for Uruguay in a major tournament.
He is an important cog in the La Celeste’s attacking department as he is gifted in the air, links up with the attacking midfielders and has the ability to create chances for himself as well as his teammates. But this time he will have to be clinical with any chances that come his way.
Having been eclipsed by Diego Forlan in 2010 and by Suarez in 2011, Cavani with his all-round ability has the opportunity to lead them to the sort of glory he was part of four years ago.
