Uruguay channels inner strength vs. England thanks to its proud son
SAO PAULO --
If you think about it, every World Cup game Uruguay wins is a small miracle.
There are just 3.3 million Uruguayans -- the equivalent of the Minneapolis-St. Paul metro area -- in a country roughly the size of the state of Washington, wedged between Brazil and Argentina. Ponder that for a second: Just how much success has come to so few people? Generally, there is a close correlation between population size and international performance among the countries with a thriving soccer culture. There exist few outliers.
But La Celeste, or Sky Blues, as the Uruguayans call themselves, have won two World Cups; the very first ever played, on their home soil in 1930, when many countries decided against coming to this newfangled tournament; and again in 1950, when the field was much better stocked and they shocked the hosts Brazil in the final game. They reached the semifinals of the 2010 World Cup and won the Copa America in 2011.
About half that 3.3 million population seemed to be here on Thursday night, ahead of their group stage clash with England, in this town not so very far from their country. Clad in their characteristic light blue, fans were strewn about town, with the inevitable face paint and wigs and flags. They sang:
We will get back
We will get back
We will get back again
We will get back to being champions
Just like we were the first time
Never mind that we're a tiny nation of chronic overachievers, they seemed to say. Screw all of you, we'll do it anyway.
Sure, there was ugliness, as 10 English fans were set upon and reportedly injured by Uruguayan hooligans. There's just no excusing that. But the mood was festive on a chilly afternoon, even though the game was critical to both teams. The English had lost their opener to Italy 2-1. Uruguay had unexpectedly and inexplicably been outplayed by Costa Rica in a 3-1 loss.
Every now and again, the immense Uruguayan contingent in the stands hopped in unison and sang that anyone not jumping with them was an Englishman, a severe insult in their part of the world. And, of course, they bagged another win they shouldn't logically be able to have gotten.
It was Luis Suarez, of course, who got both goals with a shrewd flicked header in the 39th minute and a sublime finish in the 39th. It was he, of course, who celebrated deliriously both times even though he had scored against the country that employs him, against a team made up in large part of his Liverpool teammates.
Suarez, playing through a knee injury, embodies the Uruguayan spirit. They call it "garra charrua." The claws of the Charrua -- a mythical and hard-nosed Uruguayan people that are now long gone.
"I couldn't play for a while, It was difficult for me,â said Suarez after Thursday's game. "It was complicated. But at the same time I was convinced that at no moment that I wasn't going to go."
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Garra is La Celeste's particular brand of bashing and bruising and brazenness. It isn't anything like Brazil's beautiful game, or Argentina's litany of little passes. It's hard, physical and direct. Itâs a lot of kicking, elbowing, grappling and intimidating of the referees. Itâs flopping and time-wasting. It's taunting, the way Egidio Arevalo got in Wayne Rooney's face early in the second half, clearly unsettling the English star. It's clattering through opponents with an uncommon brutality when necessary. It's taking a knee to the face for your country, as Alvaro Pereira did, getting knocked unconscious and then cursing at the referee for not letting him re-enter the fray fast enough.
"I was suffering from cramps more than 10 minutes before my second goal," said Suarez. "But something told me I couldn't leave the pitch. We suffered a lot. But we won and that's what really matters. And to those who criticized us, there you have it."
It's the way Uruguay clawed by England, channeling the strength of an ancient warrior civilization to overcome the much bigger country that codified and popularized the sport and houses the world's most competitive league. It's the way they came right back after Glen Johnson slithered through their defense in the 75th minute and fed Rooney a simple tap-in.
The game modeled on the garra isn't pretty but damn if it isn't effective. And when the size of your population and country suggests you have no business competing at this level, all is fair in soccer war. That's how you turn the tables, making it not so much about the size of the country in the fight, but about the size of the fight in the country.
So of course Suarez got the winner. Suarez is garra, playing on a knee he probably shouldn't have been playing on, and roaring towards his people after his goals, to the countrymen who love him for his whining and antics and mercurial sort of brilliance. It's what has made him such an apt anti-hero to the rest of the soccer world. He is reviled for it abroad, but loved for it in Uruguay. No man shall ever be judged for embodying the spirit of garra.
"We did want we wanted to do, what we needed to do" said Suarez. "It was a crucial game. And we won."
