Uruguay called on the spirit of garra charrua and the thundering foot of Luis Suarez to give them a 2-1 win over South Korea on Saturday and a place in the World Cup quarter-finals for the first time in 40 years.
Taking their nickname Los Charruas from a mysterious and long-lost Aboriginal people, Uruguay’s national team has forged their identity around garra charrua (charruan claws) a term used to refer to victory in the face of certain defeat.
That force was with Los Charruas on a water-logged Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium pitch on Saturday as Uruguay held off a second-half assault by South Korea that was as relentless as the driving rain, before Suarez got a brilliant 80th-minute winner.
PHOTO: AFP
“People say Uruguay has this garra charrua,” striker Edinson Cavani said. “Today, Uruguay had that desire, that determination. We kept pace with a team like South Korea which was very difficult, but it was that desire that pushed us forward.”
While a place in the last eight was described as a dream come true by the players, coach Oscar Tabarez reminded his team their achievement was real and even more was possible.
However, he conceded that after 40 years of frustration, many of his fellow countrymen were dreaming of more victories and it was up to his players to meet those expectations.
“We’re not building castles in the air. I don’t see why we should be resigned to anything,” Tabarez said. “Before we began this World Cup, I told the players: ‘Hey, the people back home have great expectations, they have dreams and we have to deliver. There are only 3 million people in Uruguay. There are very few of us and it’s a long time that we have been looking forward to something like this and now it is happening.’ The main reason for this is to give our people joy, so I hope the celebrations will continue.”
With fruitful attacking options in Suarez and Diego Forlan and a defense that has conceded just one goal in four matches, Uruguay will fancy their chances of advancing further.
However, for all his team’s strengths, Tabarez said his squad’s biggest was the bond that had developed among the players.
“We have great harmony,” he said. “This team sticks together. They are very, very united. The last 15 minutes of this match we saw that harmony, that solidarity among the players, that unity. This is a very good weapon and allows us to take on any team.”
The New Taipei Kings claimed the inaugural Taiwan Professional Basketball League (TPBL) championship on Sunday, defeating the Kaohsiung FamilyMart Aquas 108-89 in the final. Playing at home, the Kings pulled ahead with Jeremy Lin’s (林書豪) clutch three-pointers, securing their victory over the Aquas in the TPBL final. The Kings came out strong in the first quarter, dominating to build a 35-18 lead. By halftime, they had stretched their advantage to 61-38. In the third quarter, the Aquas narrowed the deficit to 12 points, but Lin stepped up, sinking several tough three- pointers to extend the lead. In the final quarter, the Kings pushed the
In an unlikely Ethiopian outpost of one the most French of pastimes, four men are leaning over their petanque balls, arguing over who is winning. Petanque, the bowling game also known as boules, is more readily associated with French village squares where locals launch metal balls at a jack while enjoying an afternoon drink, but for decades, it has also been a beloved pastime for members of a club near the iconic Meskel Square in the Ethiopian capital, Addis Ababa. It was founded in the early 20th century to cater to French railway workers, who built a line connecting Addis Ababa
Taiwanese women’s doubles star Hsieh Su-wei and Australian teenager Maya Joint on Tuesday eased into the Eastbourne Open quarter-finals in England as Hsieh prepares for the Wimbledon Championships next week. Four-time Wimbledon women’s doubles champion Hsieh and 19-year-old Joint fired two aces and converted five of eight break points to defeat Japan’s Shuko Aoyama and Poland’s Katarzyna Piter 6-3, 6-3 in 58 minutes on the grass court. Hsieh and Joint are today to face fourth seeds Barbora Krejcikova of the Czech Republic and Latvia’s Jelena Ostapenko, who advanced on Monday with a 6-4, 6-3 victory over Quinn Gleason of the US and
BEAT THE HEAT: A brutal heat wave in the US has made cooling breaks standard. Dortmund’s coach said the weather could shape the destiny of the tournament Chelsea on Tuesday beat Esperance of Tunisia 3-0 to set up a FIFA Club World Cup last-16 tie against SL Benfica, who earlier defeated Bayern Munich 1-0, as furnace-link heat and the threat of thunder and lightning wreak havoc at the tournament. Elsewhere, minnows Auckland City claimed a memorable draw against Boca Juniors, while Los Angeles bowed out of the tournament with a stalemate against Flamengo. In Charlotte, Andreas Schjelderup scored the only goal for Benfica in their Group C clash with Bayern in front of 33,287 fans, finishing first-time from a cutback by his fellow Norwegian Fredrik Aursnes in the 13th