“Uruguay champion!”, shouted tens of thousands of people who took to the streets of the Uruguayan capital this Sunday to celebrate the country’s first title in an Under-20 World Cup.
No one could hide their joy that night in Uruguay, after the youth team beat Italy 1-0 in the final played in La Plata, Argentina.
“It’s incredible, it’s the first time in my life that I’ve experienced this… always with the Uruguayans fighting and today we did it”, he told AFP Lorena Pereira, 43, a housewife who had her country’s flag painted on her face and hugged her husband amidst tears.
“She will remember this for the rest of her life,” he added of his 10-year-old daughter Paula, who was watching the party on Avenida 18 de Julho, in the center of the city, with a huge smile, where a screen broadcast the game in front of the municipal palace, a classic place of popular gatherings.
Wrapped in Uruguayan flags, with scarves, hats and light blue shirts, and even with their pets, entire families faced the 8ยฐC cold of an almost winter night to celebrate the triumph of the players led by coach Marcelo Broli.
In the caravans of cars, among the horns and vuvuzelas, the cries of “Uruguay nomรก!” and “Dale champion!” (gives you champion).
“It’s a great joy for all of Uruguayan football,” said Diago Lima, 20, a student and soccer player from Rocha, a town about 210 kilometers from Montevideo.
“Seeing the boys fulfill every boy’s dream is something incredible. I would love to be there with them!”, he added, very moved.
Uruguay, whose main team won the 1930 and 1950 World Cups (as well as the 1924 and 1928 Olympic football tournaments), had never won an Under-20 World Cup. But he succeeded in the third attempt, after reaching the finals of the World Cup in Malaysia-1997 (lost 2-1 to Argentina) and Turkey-2013 (lost on penalties to France after a goalless draw).
The confrontation with Italy was special for many in Uruguay, a country with strong European immigration and where 4% of the population of 3.5 million inhabitants also have Italian citizenship.
In the base categories of the azul-celeste, coach Marcelo Broli and five of the 21 players summoned have surnames of Italian origin.
“In that shared heart that Uruguay and Italy have, first came the joy of this final. It was a beautiful, emotional, disputed game, Uruguay is a deserved winner,” said Lamorte, an Italian-Uruguayan who is a member of the Uruguayan Parliament and member of the General Council of Italians Abroad (CGIE), an elected official in Italy.
The Uruguayan Football Association (AUF) plans to honor the youth team on Wednesday at the Estadio Centenario, before the match in which the senior team will face Nicaragua on the FIFA date.
๐คฃ ๐๐๐๐๐ฌ๐๐จ๐ง๐ญ๐ซ๐จ๐ฅ๐จฬ
The one who is World Champion does the press conferences as he wants…#ElEquipoQueNosUne pic.twitter.com/cj43pLLrsj
โ Uruguayan National Team (@Uruguay) June 12, 2023
Source: Gazetaesportiva
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