Uruguay’s dream lives on

DOHA. – Perhaps you have seen the video revealing the Uruguay squad for the 2022 World Cup.

It has over eight million views.

Not bad for a country of three-and-a-half million people.

But then Uruguay has long had an outsized impact on this sport.

The video shows coach Diego Alonso with a map of the country, illustrating that Uruguay draws on the different regions to supply the national team.

Darwin Nunez was born in Artigas, near the Brazilian border. Luis Suarez and Edinson Cavani are from Salto.

Each name is unveiled by a member of the public, from the gauchos on horseback and the farmers in the fields, to the fruit sellers, factory workers and bus drivers in the capital of Montevideo.

That sense of unity through football is the story of Uruguay as a nation.

“Uruguay has always had much more than football,” Martin Da Cruz tells Sky Sports.

“It has had some of the most progressive social policies in the region and the world. It is a leader in the use of renewable energy. But football still plays a huge role.

“Players like Fede Valverde and Darwin Nunez are perhaps the most powerful ambassadors for the country.

“Football seems to cut through the most. The national team is perhaps the only thing that can unite all Uruguayans, no matter where they lean politically.”

Da Cruz has written a book, From Beauty to Duty, that helps to explain football’s role in nation-building in Uruguay.

It details the game’s rise in popularity in the 19th century at a time when the long-term existence of the fledgling Uruguay was no fait accompli.

“A precarious existence between two imposing giant neighbours Brazil and Argentina has always been a key feature of Uruguay’s national narrative and is still relevant to the country’s self-perception. This has touched football since the beginning.

“Uruguay used the game to prove its right to exist.”

As neighbours grew and naval ships from the old world patrolled La Plata, Uruguay found its identity through football.

During civil war, its growth was accelerated as the government-owned newspapers could not write of revolution.

Football filled the void.

The game thrived, embraced by willing amateurs and eventually the populace at large.

Olympic success stoked national pride.

World Cup glory ensured that those achievements would echo through the ages, defining Uruguay, past, present and future.

As the football writer and poet Eduardo Galeano once put it, “Every time the national team plays, no matter against whom, the country holds its breath. Politicians, singers, and street vendors shut their mouths, lovers suspend their caresses, and flies stop flying.” – SkySports