World Cup 2010 Preview: Uruguay will rely on potent strike duo

Soccer Betting Lines

05/19/2010 - Philadelphia, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Uruguay is one of only five nations that can claim multiple World Cup titles, but unlike the other four - Brazil, Italy, Germany and Argentina - the men in sky blue have had little to brag about over the past 40 years.

Uruguay hosted and won the inaugural event in 1930, while capturing the title again 20 years later. However, since 1970, which is the last time Uruguay reached the quarterfinals, they have qualified for just four of the last eight World Cups before this year.

The man charged with restoring some of Uruguay's national pride in South Africa is manager Oscar Tabarez, and he is well aware of his team's duty to the great teams of Uruguay's past.

"We have a duty to our country's great footballing history," he told FIFA.com. "Some people call it prehistory but they're only saying that because they don't have any history of their own to talk about. We need to have some kind of link with those great champions, at least in terms of our footballing culture and what it means to us."

Tabarez stopped short of exactly how far his team must advance to fulfill that duty, but after guiding Uruguay to the round of 16 in 1990, he will be hoping to do the same 20 years later.

After finishing fifth in the CONMEBOL region of World Cup qualifying, Uruguay needed to beat CONCACAF representative Costa Rica in a two-legged playoff, and did so by a 2-1 aggregate score.

Uruguay was drawn into Group A along with France, Mexico and hosts South Africa, and while Uruguay will not be favored to go through, they might have enough firepower to pull a few surprises.

The strength of this team is certainly up top, where Tabarez will have one of the stronger strike partnerships in the whole tournament.

Diego Forlan's time at Manchester United was less than memorable, but since his move to La Liga, Forlan has proven to be quite potent in front of goal.

He has scored 56 times in the past two years for Atletico Madrid, including both goals in a 2-1 win for the club over Fulham in the final of the Europa League this past year.

Luis Suarez will join Forlan up top, with the duo combining to score 12 times in qualification.

The 23-year-old Suarez enjoyed a fantastic season in the Dutch Eredivisie with 35 goals in league play for Ajax, and Tabarez is hoping that he continues to torture defenses on the world stage.

Captain Diego Lugano anchors the defense along with Martin Caceres from Juventus, while Napoli midfielder Walter Gargano will pull the strings in the middle of the field.

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Big East Conference odds

Work left to do: Villanova, Syracuse, DePaul, West Virginia, Providence

Notre Dame and Louisville appear to have done enough to make the move, so we'll make them locks. The Cardinals, despite a modest RPI, are trending way up and have clinched at least a tie for third in the Big East, which should be more than enough with their pair of big road wins. Villanova got back to .500 and gets back to more solid footing. Syracuse got a very important road win and crippled a fellow contender in the process. West Virginia's fate could be in its hands Tuesday at Pitt.

Work left to do:

Villanova [18-9 (7-7), RPI: 21, SOS: 5] Pounded Rutgers to get back to .500. If Cats can get their last two (at UConn, vs. Syracuse), that should be enough with strong computer numbers and a host of wins away from The Pavilion. The Cats have beaten Texas and swept the Big 5 (never easy in Philly), but have a couple of losses to bubble teams (Xavier, Drexel), too. I still think they'll be OK, possibly even at 8-8.

Syracuse [20-8 (9-5), RPI: 53, SOS: 62] History says 10 wins will be plenty, but it might be hard for the Orange to get that last one with a final two vs. G'town, which is trying to win the league title, and at Villanova, which will be desperate for a W. The relative lack of nonconference heft and the weak computer numbers are still concerns, but the Orange have won four in a row and got a very, very big win at Providence on Saturday.

DePaul [16-12 (8-7), RPI: 54, SOS: 18] Beat Cincy and should get past South Florida to get to 9-7, but then what? They have beaten Kansas and Cal (right after the DeVon Hardin injury) earlier this season, but also have lost to Bradley and Purdue, among others. They'll likely need a couple of BE tourney wins, too, but we'll see ...

West Virginia [19-7 (8-6), RPI: 58, SOS: 125] The game at Pitt on Tuesday night could decide the Mountaineers' fate (barring a deep tournament run). They can still get to 9-7 in the Big East without it by beating Cincinnati, but the nine wins would be against UConn, Villanova, St. John's, South Florida, DePaul, Rutgers, Seton Hall twice and the Bearcats. Beating bubble foes is fine, but where's the beef? Outside of beating PG-less UCLA in nonconference play (still a top quality win), there's not a lot to fall back on (besides maybe NC State). WVU vs. Syracuse would be an interesting debate, as the teams don't play in the Big East regular season. WVU has the best win, but Cuse has played the much better schedule.

Providence [17-10 (7-7), RPI: 70, SOS: 33] The Friars likely saw their at-large hopes die at home in the four-point loss to Syracuse, barring an unexpected run to the Big East semis or more. The RPI, bad already, won't be helped by playing St. John's and South Florida in the final two league games.

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