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rico21 -> RE: All things Football (soccer) related (7/6/2018 10:07:02 AM)
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France-Uruguay: facing the Blues, a whole country ready to "suffer until the final whistle"
Before the quarter-finals of the World Cup, the Uruguayan press gauge the chances of his team. Press review of "Courrier international".
A semi-finalist of the World Cup in 2010 and eliminated in the round of 16 in 2014, Uruguay will play Friday "the most important match of recent years" against the France team, ensures La República. For the daily of Montevideo, after the win against Portugal, "the joy of having qualified was immediately mixed with anxiety when it came to realizing what is happening to us".
Stuck between the two giants Argentina and Brazil, Uruguay has an extraordinary record for a country of three million inhabitants. La República sees in this quarter-final of the World Cup "a clash between world champions", even if the last Uruguayan title goes back to 1950. The newspaper recalls that the two teams "arrive undefeated" in this tournament: "Uruguay has won all his matches and conceded only one goal [against Portugal], and the Blues left Argentina in the ditch after a spectacular match. "
Players "trained in pure sacrifice"
Since the qualification of the Celeste for the quarterfinals, the press of Montevideo speaks only of the team of France, "this volcano in permanent activity", as summed up El Observador. "Uruguay is a team ready to suffer," adds the daily, which describes this feeling so special for the country:
"If there is one thing that the inhabitants of this earth do not need to learn, it is the feeling of agony. They live with. To pay for electricity, to arrive at the end of the month, to fight day by day. That's what we are. And this power inexplicably translates into our football. Uruguayans like to win in suffering. In the agony of a match. Players are trained in pure sacrifice. "
So, against the Blues, Uruguay "will play as he has always done, with courage and heroism," warns El Observador. "And on this side of the world, that of this country of three million inhabitants, we will be sitting in front of the television with a limpid instruction: to suffer until the final whistle. "
The Blues, so many talents
With this in mind, Uruguay expects to suffer for two main reasons: the quality of the French squad and the absence of his best player, Edinson Cavani.
"If, against Portugal, the name of Cristiano Ronaldo immediately came to mind when we thought about the threats against France, this exercise is impossible as its talent is multiple and well distributed," says La República. The newspaper believes that "the names of Pogba, Griezmann or Mbappé alone would be enough to crack the nerves of steel of any coach." But according to the Uruguayan daily, it will first of all "stop the engine of the French team, the one that has the most influence on it": the defensive midfielder N'Golo Kanté.
Without Cavani, not even afraid
For that, the Celeste will not be able to count on his striker Edinson Cavani, hurt with the calf during the match against Portugal. For the newspaper La Ovacion, "it's the worst possible news", but the verdict is implacable: the player of Paris-Saint-Germain will not be handed in time and "the Uruguayan staff hopes only to be able to register as that substitute ".
Moreover, adds El Telegrafo, "as the coach never aligns players who are not 100% of their means, it is impossible for Cavani to be present against the Gauls. The paper does not admit that it has been beaten, and says that "the Uruguay team have learned a recipe they've learned for twelve years: they know that not taking a goal gives them more opportunities and that they must realize all his opportunities before. She can also count on the experience of her most important players, who know that a World Cup can be reduced to killing or dying. "
The Diaria goes so far as to write that this absence of the striker makes "blow a wind of freedom and sink the combativity in the blood" of the Celeste. "If Edi fails to recover for the match, his natural substitute will be the talented Cristhian Stuani, one of the best scorers in the Spanish Liga, which will also bring its intense laundry, advance the Uruguayan daily. Exactly as Cavani does. "
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