Uruguay out to spoil the party

SO A day or two of calm recovery after a World Cup quarter-final sequence which spilled over with drama, surprise and sensation. We are left with four teams standing and behind them a battlefield strewn with casualties, among them some of the genuine bluebloods of the game.

Perhaps this first World Cup venture into the African continent hasn’t produced a competition to be cherished by purists but its knock-out stages have been a wonderful rollercoaster.

The smart money in the betting arena suggests next weekend’s world champions will come from the semi-final in Durban between Spain and Germany. This competition, despite its location and despite the 50 per cent South American presence in the quarter-finals, has ended up being quite euro-centric and Spain and Germany represent solid old firms.

There might be more fun and games to be had in Cape Town, where Uruguay and the Netherlands will meet on Tuesday; two talented but obviously flawed teams looking to make it to the last reel of this thriller.

The Uruguayans, surely, will be received like bandits, the hand of Luis Suarez having barred Ghana, the darlings of an entire continent from a place in the semi-finals. If so it will just add to the pantomime fun of the thing and the Uruguayans won’t care.

Suarez will always be a national hero at home. After all. Which goal do Argentinians cherish more, Diego’s first or second effort against England in 1986? How instant was French forgiveness of Zidane four years ago? Simultaneous with the crime, is the answer. What is one of our favourite shared memories of Italia 1990? Mick McCarthy and Ruud Gullit coming together and agreeing their sides would virtually stop playing so they could both progress to the next round.

Partisanship doesn’t cherish fairness; it is addicted to results. If Uruguay’s punishment is catcalls and unpopularity they will scarcely care. Odd that the Cape’s old colonists, the Dutch, might start as local favourites but history has always had a sense of humour.

If the Uruguayan melodrama with Ghana hadn’t eclipsed the afternoon’s action, the Dutch triumph over Brazil would still be a talking point. Do we believe in the inept bunglers of the first half or the fluent side who emerged like butterflies after the gift of an equaliser? How many of the Netherlands’ better moments were merely an exploitation of Brazil’s fast crumbling confidence?

The Dutch have had a peculiar tournament, coming here on the back of a long unbeaten run which caused many to fancy them. They have won all five of their games and yet they have been unconvincing. A run of 24 unbeaten games must do something for the conviction in a side, however.

They have failed to convince in front of goal, where Robin van Persie has been taken off in each game so far and has scored just once. Van Persie and centre half Jon Mathijsen both trained with the squad yesterday and should be fit to play despite injury scares.

The Uruguayans, the only non-European team left in the tournament, make interesting opponents for the Dutch. If the Oranje tend to overachieve in world football terms, they have nothing on the Uruguayans who, with a population of just 3.5 million, have been world champions twice and are appearing in the semi-final for the fourth time and have also won the Copa Libertadores 14 times.

The last side to qualify for South Africa (the FAI’s 33rd team idea having been scandalously denied), the Uruguayans got here with six losses, six wins and six draws and yet are deft in defence. They have showcased a different Diego Forlan in attack, different anyway to what the Premiership dismissed him as a few years ago. A working and running selflessly Forlan. Sebastian Abreu should replace national handball hero Suarez.

This has been a thrilling and restorative few weeks for the world game, providing reassuring evidence that every country has the possibility to make its own tradition of World Cup success.

The Dutch romantics wooed the world in 1974 but have receded into a gnarly pragmatism. Uruguay seldom get the credit for being the bantams in the middleweight ring. On Wednesday one or other team will make it to a World Cup final. The World Cup needs such twists every now and then.