Esta vez la garra uruguaya no funcionó. (ESP-ENG)

This time the Uruguayan claw did not work.

I am writing about a subject on which I usually do not think, the members of this great sports community know how to excuse me, but I cannot stop talking about the Uruguayan team and the World Cup. I do it partly to vent my anger and my disappointment because I wanted Uruguay to win, this neighboring country that is almost equal to us. I refer to the “porteños” as they tell us, we are the ones who live around the Río de la Plata, that León-colored estuary that separates us, but also unites us with our brothers. Well at least that's how I feel, maybe others think differently.

Thanks to fishing, I made extraordinary friends in the neighboring country, I received enormous hospitality from them and on some occasions I also shared ours. The river, the mate, the tango, the language, and so many other things unite us that it is almost impossible to separate us, except perhaps because they are much more organized and have an infinitely better economy than ours, perhaps because despite the differences they have politically speaking, they have not lost their way and they all pull in the same direction.

I had an uncle who had passed away many years ago who had an Uruguayan girlfriend, she traveled permanently and on some occasions, they came to visit us, I was a teenager at that time and I was worried about finding differences between that girl and the Argentines, it was almost impossible to know in advance what country it was from, except perhaps for a small barely perceptible tune in some words.

Let's go back to the main topic.

Uruguay has extraordinary football and great players, many are in the main teams in the world, like ours, however, Uruguay is a small country, at least in terms of the number of inhabitants, more than 10 times less than us, to give an example; it's totally amazing that they have so many high-quality players. Many will think that this does not have much to do with it, there are countries whose population totally exceeds what is imaginable and yet they do not stand out in football, this sport is something special, there is no doubt about it. It is "the pasture" would say some well-known journalist indicating that here and in Uruguay there is a lot of land available for the practice of the sport of ball and feet, but in other small countries although densely populated and with much fewer "pastures" have shown us that Also in academies and with dedication and fundamentally organization, it is possible to obtain quality footballers, they have surpassed us on several occasions, demonstrating just that.

Uruguay has everything to be great, in fact, it is, but for many years it has been wandering in what I call its own trap. I am referring to the famous Uruguayan “claw”, that plus that comes to light in difficult moments and has led them to turn around results in a heroic and repeated way. But I've noticed that warrior mystique makes them need to be at a disadvantage for it to show up. Against Portugal they didn't play anything in the entire first half and part of the second until they were converted, that's where the mystique emerged and we enjoyed a few minutes of the excellent football they can display.

I wondered if they can play like this, why didn't they do it from the start? The answer is undeniable, they need to feel attacked or, what is the same thing, to lose to give everything. I do not want to say with this that they have played to be converted, only that I have seen it so many times with that team that it seems natural to me.

They display the best of themselves when they are at a disadvantage, they can by goals or by some expulsion. Review Uruguay's participation in some World Cups and you will verify what I am saying.

The only ones with whom they don't play that way are Brazil and Argentina, there they forget about the grit, the disadvantage, and the inhibitions, they go out to win in any way, sometimes they succeed, and other times they don't, like everyone else.

Yesterday the extraordinary game displayed after the disadvantage did not reach them, although the tie was close on several occasions.

Maybe in the next game they don't need to be at a disadvantage because they already are, I hope they go through, their players and their people deserve it.