Uruguay only qualified for South Africa after play-off games against Costa Rica. They had finished fifth in the tough 10-team South American group and, with only the top four gaining an automatic passage to the World Cup, played the central Americans - who had finished fourth in their group - home and away. Uruguay are used to do-or-die play-offs. "We lost to Australia in the play-off for the 2006 World Cup, so I am determined to show my quality for my country this time," said Diego Forlan, their key striker.
Do not write him off. Especially as Oscar Tabarez, the man who led Uruguay to the second round in the 1990 World Cup and has coached at AC Milan and Boca Juniors, is back in charge. "We all respect him," Forlan said. "He's a legend in our country." Uruguay have a rich international pedigree and have left their mark in World Cup history as the competition's first winners in 1930, adding a second title 20 years later. Ranked 16th in the world, they are not expected to win the tournament in South Africa.
They are in a difficult group with France, Mexico and South Africa for a start, but in Forlan they have a big-name, big-game player who is among the best forwards in the world. Famously profligate at Manchester United, the Uruguayan striker, 31, has long since silenced any critics. The two-footed striker was the Primera Liga's top scorer and the European Golden Boot winner in 2005 at Villarreal, a feat he repeated in 2009 while playing for his current club Atletico Madrid.
His father, Pablo, played in the 1966 World Cup in England, and Diego appeared briefly in the 2002 tournament. "I scored a beautiful goal, a volley against Senegal," he said. "It remains one of my favourites because it was from far out, but we did not progress from the group stages that time. It was a strange game. We were losing 3-0 at half-time and then I came on as substitute. "We drew 3-3 and missed an easy chance at the end. So I was happy to score, but sad because if we had scored [another goal] we could have gone through.
"I don't feel that I have ever done myself justice in the World Cup finals. It is time to do that in South Africa." He listed his strike partner Luis Suarez, who plays his club football at Ajax, as a player to watch. The pair have a good understanding on and off the pitch while Nicolas Lodeiro, the 21-year-old winger who is Suarez's teammate at Ajax, has made a considerable impact in recent matches.
Other key Uruguay players include Diego Lugano, the central defender and captain who scored the crucial goal against Costa Rica, and the Villarreal pair of Diego Godin and Sebastian Eguren. Martin Caceres, the versatile defender, featured prominently in qualifying, which is more than can be said for his contribution to his club, Barcelona. The Catalans paid ?16.5 million (Dh76m) for his signature in 2008, but he found himself fourth choice in his position at Camp Nou and was loaned out to Juventus in Italy for what proved to be an injury-hit 2009-10.
Forlan had no such problems in club football, also frequently showing his class for his country, scoring a hat-trick in a key qualifying game against Peru. He knows that the bigger tests are to come. "I want to win the World Cup and on our day we can beat anyone," he said. "Our success will start with our defence and then it's up to me to score the goals." His current form, which includes two goals in the 2010 Uefa Europa League final, suggests he could deliver.
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