Friendly: USA - Uruguay 12.5

[Guest GoDizzGo]

Write-up from MLSNET.com: On Sunday the United States takes on fellow World Cup participants Uruguay in a pre-tournament tuneup match at RFK Stadium in Washington, D.C. (2:00 p.m. EST). The game will be the first of a doubleheader which will afterward see rivals D.C. United and Columbus battle in an MLS regular season matchup. The U.S. has just concluded a 10-day camp in Cary, North Carolina while Uruguay is just getting together for the first time before the World Cup. U.S. Head Coach Bruce Arena will want to see his team erase memories of Wednesday's exhibition tie (2-2) against the Richmond Kickers. The U.S. is 1-2-2 against Uruguay in its history with the lone victory coming on May 5, 1991 in Denver, Colorado. The most recent matchup between the World Cup hopefuls came on March 25, 1995 in Dallas, Texas in a match which finished deadlocked at 2-2. Of Arena's 23-man roster, six players will not be available for the match against Uruguay: goalkeeper Kasey Keller, midfielder Claudio Reyna, midfielder Eddie Lewis, midfielder John O'Brien and defender Greg Vanney (the only alternate in camp) will have European club commitments to attend to. New England Revolution defender Carlos Llamosa will also miss the game because of a hamstring injury which has kept him out of practice for the duration of the camp in North Carolina. According to reports, Uruguay Head Coach Victor Pua also will not be able to count on all his 27 call-ups of which he plans to make his 23 selections. Defender Paolo Montero (Juventus - ITA) and goalkeeper Fabian Carini (Juventus - ITA) were playing an Italian Cup second-leg final against Parma on Friday while forward Diego Forlan (Manchester United - ENG), midfielder Marcelo Romero (Malaga - SPA), forward Dario Silva (Malaga - SPA) and forward Mario Regueiro (Racing Santander - SPA) also have European club commitments. Also, in the latest developments, forwards Richard Morales and Gustavo Varela of Nacional were given permission by Pua to remain in Montevideo to rest ahead of Nacional's second leg of the Copa Libertadores quarterfinal matchup against Gremio (Gremio defeated Nacional 1-0 in the first leg in Brazil on Wednesday). The players were originally scheduled to catch a plan on Thursday to Washington to join the team. Instead, the forward tandem will now travel on May 16 to China to finally join the national squad. Making the trip to the U.S., however, are their Nacional teammates: goalkeeper Gustavo Munua and defenders Alejandro Lembo and Gustavo Mendez. Of the three, only Lembo and Munua, who is Carini's backup and is expected to start Sunday, are expected to make the return trip to Montevideo for Wednesday's second leg Copa Libertadores match against Gremio. The following is Uruguay's preliminary 27-man roster: Goalkeepers (3) - Fabian Carini (Juventus), Federico Elduayen (Penarol), Gustavo Munua (Nacional) Defenders (6) - Joe Bizera (Penarol), Alejandro Lembo (Nacional), Gustavo Mendez (Nacional), Gonzalo Sorondo (Inter Milan), Paolo Montero (Juventus), Dario Rodriguez (Penarol) Midfielders (9) - Gonzalo de los Santos (Valencia), Sebastian Eguren (Wanderers), Pablo Garcia (Venezia), Federico Magallanes (Venezia), Gianni Guigou (AS Roma), Fabian O'Neill (Perugia), Nicolas Olivera (Sevilla), Diego Perez (Defensor Sporting), Marcelo Romero (Malaga) Forwards (9) - Sebastian Abreu (Cruz Azul), Daniel Fonseca (Nacional), Richard Morales (Nacional), Diego Forlan (Manchester United), Ruben Olivera (Danubio), Alvaro Recoba (Inter), Mario Regueiro (Racing de Santander), Gustavo Varela (Nacional), Dario Silva (Malaga) The call-ups of 32-year-old forward Daniel Fonseca (Nacional), who scored a goal in the 1990 World Cup (Uruguay's last appearance), and Mendez (Nacional) have brought harsh criticism in the Uruguayan camp for Pua. Fonseca has had a difficult time earning regular starting time on his club teams in Argentina (River Plate) and now Uruguay (Nacional) while Mendez was unseated in defense by other players in the World Cup Qualifying run. The controversies have gone so far as to suggest that super-agent Paco Casal had a hand in the two players getting called up with Uruguayan fans in an uproar over Fonseca's inclusion. The only hint of controversy surrounding the U.S. deals with the form of star striker Clint Mathis (MetroStars) who Bruce Arena has criticized publicly for his lack of form. Also, the goalkeeper debate (Kasey Keller vs. Brad Friedel) is not expected to end until that June 5 match, the first match of the U.S. against Portugal in Group D. While the U.S. has exhibitions against Jamaica and Holland coming up next week, the match will serve as the last for Uruguay which heads off to Asia, where it will take on China (May 16) and Singapore (May 21). The Americans leave for the World Cup on May 23.

[Guest Justin O]

too tough This one is too tough to call. It has "no bet" written all over it.

[Guest milmark]

Re: too tough I took a small bet on Uruguau, just to try my luck with a hard game like this...