Things to Know:
The Uruguay national football team represents Uruguay in international association football and is controlled by the Uruguayan Football Association, the governing body for football in Uruguay. The current head coach is Óscar Tabárez. The Uruguayan team is commonly referred to as La Celeste (The Sky Blue). The Uruguayan team recently won the 2011 Copa América. They have won the Copa América 15 times, being the team that has won the tournament on most occasions. The team has won the FIFA World Cup twice, including the first World Cup in 1930 as hosts, defeating Argentina 4–2 in the final. They won their second title in 1950, upsetting host Brazil 2–1 in the final match, which received an attendance higher than any football match ever. They have won the Gold Medals in football at the Summer Olympics twice, in 1924 and 1928 recognized by FIFA as World Championship, before the creation of the World Cup. Uruguay also won the 1980 Mundialito, a tournament among former World Cup champions. In total, Uruguay have won 20 official titles, a world record for the most international titles held by any country. Another unique achievement of Uruguay is that it´s the only nation in world football to organize multiple major international tournaments in own country and win them all. La Celeste won 7 Copa América tournaments, 1 World Cup and Mundialito, all staged in Uruguay. Their success is amplified by the fact that the nation has a very small population of around 3.4 million inhabitants (2011 est.). Uruguay is by far the smallest country in the world to have won a World Cup in terms of population, 1.75 million inhabitants in 1930. The second-smallest country, by population, to have won the World Cup is Argentina with a population of nearly 28 million people in 1978. Uruguay is also the smallest country ever to win any World Cup medals; only five nations with a currently smaller population than Uruguay’s have ever participated in any World Cup: Northern Ireland (three times), Slovenia (twice), Wales, Jamaica and Trinidad and Tobago.
URUGUAY NATIONAL TEAM
2001-2002
Friendly
Italy vs Uruguay
Match Worn Shirt
Did you Know?
Born in Montevideo, Munúa started his career at local Club Nacional de Football, where he won four Uruguyan league titles in a row. He held the record of being the first goalkeeper to score in Uruguayan football, when he netted from a free-kick in a league win against Central Español.Munúa also scored some goals from penalties, both in the league and the Libertadores Cup. Munúa made his debut for Uruguay aged 20, in a friendly match against Chile on 24 May 1998. As a backup, he represented the nation at the 2001 Copa América and the 2002 FIFA World Cup.
URUGUAY NATIONAL TEAM
2010-2011
Friendly Game
Estonia vs Uruguay
Match Worn & Signed Shirt
Forlan Diego
Did you Know?
This shirt was worn by Diego Forlan during the friendly game between Estonia and Uruguay which took place in Tallinn, “A. Le Coq Arena”, on March 25th 2011. Estonia defeated Uruguay 2-0. The shirt was given after the game to an Internazionale F.C. medical member whom we got it from. Forlán’s 100th cap coming in the 2013 FIFA Confederations Cup match against Nigeria. On 11 October 2011, he scored his 32nd goal, which made him Uruguay’s top scorer of all time in official matches, beating Héctor Scarone who had held the record alone with 31 goals since 1930. (Scarone scored 42 goals in total, but 11 of them were in unofficial matches). Forlan best period with National Team was during the Fifa World Cup “South Africa 2010” when, on July 10th 2010, he scored for the final time in the tournament as he netted a well-executed volley from the edge of the area to give Uruguay the lead. This goal, from a pass by Egidio Arévalo Ríos, was selected by FIFA as the Goal of the Tournament. Forlán then hit the crossbar with the final kick of the game from a free kick as they lost to Germany 3–2 in the third place play-off. Forlán was awarded the Golden Ball as the tournament’s best player. He was also picked for the team of the tournament, and was the joint top scorer at the World Cup with five goals.