Uruguay prove it's not the size that counts (Feature)

By Michael Logan Jul 6, 2010, 10:58 GMT

Cape Town - Simple football logic dictates that the bigger and richer a country, the more likely it is to achieve success.

Two-time world champions Uruguay have defied that logic down the years and once again find themselves in a World Cup semi-final, taking on the Netherlands in Cape Town on Tuesday evening.

'In some countries here, they have more footballers than actually live in Uruguay,' boss Oscar Tabarez told journalists on Monday.

He wasn't joking.

Other small nations have done well in recent World Cups - particularly Croatia, who finished third in France in 1998 despite having just 4.4 million inhabitants.

But Uruguay, the smallest nation ever to have won a World Cup, is in a class of its own. A quick glance at the estimated populations of the four semi-finalists reveals just how far Uruguay is punching way above its weight.

There are just over 82 million Germans, Spain has a population of 45.5 million and the Netherlands, itself a relatively small nation renowned for its football prowess, boasts 16.5 million citizens.

Uruguay, with just over 3 million inhabitants, has the roughly the same population as Berlin. And yet here are the South Americans in their third semi-final since 1954.

Uruguay won the first ever World Cup as the hosts in 1930, beating Argentina 4-2 in front of over 90,000 supporters - a significant chunk of the 1.5 million population at the time in attendance.

They boycotted the next two tournaments: 1934 in Italy because many European teams didn't bother travelling to South America in 1930, and 1938 because it was once again held in Europe despite a promise to alternate between the two continents.

But the South Americans came back with a bang after World War II, springing a major shock to beat Brazil 2-1 in the Maracana Stadium in 1950 and in the process coining the term Maracanazo, synonymous in Brazil with sporting disaster.

Then came semi-finals in 1954 and 1970.

Since then, Uruguay have fallen away and often failed to qualify - although they made the Round of 16 in 1986 and 1990, still a creditable performance for such a tiny country.

Tabarez believes his country's fall from prominence is due to the changing global landscape, as money becomes more of a factor in footballing success.

'The world is very different to the early 20th century,' he said. 'The difference between the first and the third world is widening. We are the third world.'

Uruguay isn't just smaller than the other semi-finalists. It also lags behind economically.

World Bank figures from 2008 put Uruguay's per capita Gross National Income at 8,260 dollars, compared to 40,620 dollars for the Netherlands, who have never won the World Cup despite producing so many great teams.

As a result of the economic disparity, top European nations also benefit from an influx of immigrants, whose offspring are then available to play for the national team.

France's Zinedine Zidane, the son of Algerian immigrants, is the shining example of how well this process can work.

Opposite forces are at work in Uruguay.

Uruguay's top players, such as Atletico Madrid's Diego Forlan and Ajax's Luis Suarez, play abroad, and Tabarez believes this leaking of talent from the domestic leagues has weakened the national side.

He does not believe Uruguay will ever be the world footballing power it once was, but that is not going to stop the determined coach trying to eke out some success.

'What we're trying to do is adapt to the new reality ... to find some factors that might help us bridge the organizational and economic gap that exists between us and the other three nations in the semi-finals,' he said.

That means pragmatic football: a strong defence, hitting on the break and the occasional goal-line handball if needed.

Many neutrals were angered by Suarez's last-gasp handball in the quarter-final against Ghana, which denied the African side victory and gave the South Americans the chance to win on penalties.

They were even more infuriated when the little striker refused to show any remorse and even laid claim to owning the 'Hand of God' - a reference to Diego Maradona's infamous goal with his fist against England in 1986.

But in light of the odds stacked against the world's most-successful footballing midget, Suarez's defiance may be understandable.