Uruguay take to the pitch against Jordan tonight in Amman as heavy favourites to reach the World Cup from the two-legged Intercontinental play-off.
Uruguay have been in the last three World Cup final play-offs, triumphing in two. With strikers Edinson Cavani, Luis Suarez and Diego Forlan, they finished the South American group strongly and only missed out on automatic qualification on goal difference.
The 2010 World Cup semi-finalists finished five points clear of Venezuela below them. Ranked sixth in the world against Jordan’s 70th – one place above the UAE – Uruguay are easily the strongest side on paper, but having been beaten by unfancied Australia in 2006, they are aware of the risks.
“Everyone says we’re favourites for the play-offs because we have so much experience after 2002, 2006 and 2010,” said Forlan. “It’s our fourth one in succession and we’ve won two and lost one, but just because we’ve been in past games is no insurance for what will happen in the future.”
Forlan, the World Cup’s top-scorer in South Africa, is disappointed they didn’t qualify automatically.
“We played well in a very strong group and beat the best teams, but we had a couple of bad results in Bolivia and Ecuador, the two games at altitude,” he explained. “Altitude changes the way you play and as visitors we’re not used to it. The ball moves faster in the thinner air. All the other teams had to play there too, but it affected us. So we’re back where we usually are, flying to the other side of the world for a play-off. I’m happy it’s not at altitude.”
Forlan remembers a visit to Jordan 24 years ago when his dad, Pablo, was coaching in Saudi Arabia. He says the team plan to visit Petra if they win today.
Hossam Hassan’s Jordan side triumphed 9-8 in a penalty shoot-out in September’s Asian play-off between with Uzbekistan after finishing third in their group in final qualifying. They have never reached the World Cup finals and they will meet attacking talent far superior to their usual opponents. Jordan conceded 16 goals in their qualifying group, but several of their players played against Uruguay in the only previous meeting between the two countries during the 2007 Fifa Under 20 World Cup. Suarez and Cavani were also there, the Paris Saint-Germain striker scoring the only goal of the game.
“When you consider that there are only three million of us, Uruguay has a great history,” said Forlan about the current South American champions. “We don’t just want to reach Brazil, but win there.”
Having won the last World Cup finals in Brazil in 1950, history could be on their side. But first, two games against Jordan before they start dreaming of another improbable triumph in the Maracana.
---
Long streak on the line for Mexico
Mexico last missed the World Cup in 1990. It now could happen again, unless the team can overcome New Zealand in a two-leg play-off, starting tonight at Azteca Stadium in Mexico City.
Mexico needed something remarkable just to reach this stage, as the United States scored two late goals to beat Panama and send the Mexicans through to the play-off. Otherwise, Panama would have advanced and Mexico would be out already.
Mexico played poorly in qualifying, where they struggled to score goals and finished behind the US, Costa Rica and Honduras, who earned the automatic berths from the Concacaf region.
They have gone to extraordinary measures hoping to reach Brazil, bringing in Miguel Herrera to handle the two-game play-off in the latest of a series of coaching changes. Herrera, the coach of the Mexican club America, has overlooked the country’s Europe-based players, like Manchester United’s Javier Hernandez, and is going with players from Mexico’s domestic league.
The altitude in Mexico City is 2,240 metres, and the thin and often polluted air usually troubles visiting teams. The home crowd at the 100,000-capacity stadium can intimidate opponents, too.
“We’ll do it here,” Herrera said. “I’m sure that Mexico will get the advantage so we can relax in Wellington and finish the job. This is the idea. To take care of business at home.”
“That’s why we have a local team,” he added. “We have players who are used to playing at this altitude.”
Mexico is expected to start Oribe Peralta up front, and team him with Aldo de Nigris or Rual Jimenez.
Brazilians don’t get a say in who makes the tournament, but local World Cup organizers would surely prefer to have another Latin American team in the field, rather than New Zealand which would bring few fans.
Herrera was the fourth coach hired by Mexico in a span of six weeks as it struggled to qualify.
“We are in the process of leaving behind the past and looking toward the great opportunity we have,” Herrera said. “We are not overconfident. An excess of confidence would make us think our rival is a step below us.
New Zealand were the only team that did not lose a match in the 2010 World Cup — drawing all three games — although they went out at the group stage. They have been training in southern California, and travel to Mexico at the last moment hoping to beat the altitude adjustment.
“I’m sure they’ll try to set the tie alight and score goals in that first leg,” the New Zealand coach Ricki Herbert said. “That presents a strong challenge for us.”
sports@thenational.ae
