2010 World Cup field complete as Uruguay qualifies
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The 32 World Cup teams are set and the soccer world now awaits the Dec. 4 draw in Cape Town, South Africa, when the groups will be determined for first-round play starting June 11.
Two-time winner Uruguay clinched the last place in the quadrennial world championship when it tied Costa Rica, 1-1, at Centenario Stadium in Montevideo tonight after defeating the Ticos, 1-0, in San Jose, Costa Rica, on Saturday.
Sebastian Abreu put Uruguay in the lead in the 69th minute, only for Walter Centeno to tie it up four minutes later and keep fans of both countries on edge until the final whistle, which came only after an agonizing seven-plus minutes of stoppage time.
With the two-year global qualifying campaign finally at an end -- only two more years before qualifying for Brazil 2014 begins! -- it will be the Costa Rican players and their fans who reflect longest about how close they came. Costa Rica was literally only seconds away from securing its place when Chivas USA’s Jonathan Bornstein scored the injury time goal for the U.S. that sent Honduras through instead and consigned Costa Rica to a playoff against Uruguay.
The addition of Uruguay to the tournament means that all seven previous winners are in the field: Argentina, Brazil, England, France, Germany, Italy and Uruguay.
The best thing about Uruguay qualifying? South Africans, whose own national team can’t buy a goal, get to see what a real striker looks like in the shape of Atletico Madrid’s Diego Forlan.
-- Grahame L. Jones