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Timuka

Listed below are comments made by Timuka between Friday, 19th September 2008 and Monday, 7th December 2009.

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Mixed fortunes for South Americans in draw 4:08pm on 07 Dec 2009 40. At 12:03pm on 07 Dec 2009, cliff wrote:

A depressing fact for fans of South American football:
Apart from Brazil and Argentina no South American team has reached the quarter final since Uruguay in 1970.
Their controversial win over the USSR was the last win in a World Cup knock-out match for one of Conembols' 'other' teams - and Uruguay haven't won a single match at the finals since.
The last knock-out winners before that was when hosts Chile beat the USSR in 1962 - and Chile also haven't won a single game since at the finals.
Surely one of Chile, Uruguay and Paraguay can improve on this terrible stat? Are Paraguay the most likely?

Cliff, I think you'll find Uruguay beat South Korea at Italy 90
Uruguay face tactical dilemma 4:32pm on 08 Oct 2009 64. At 11:59am on 08 Oct 2009, Aarfy_Aardvark wrote:

I find it remarkable that Uruguay haven't lost in Wc qualifiers at high altitude since that 4-0 hammering they received in 1997.

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They lost in Bogota in 2000.

Fair point, was only taking into account Quito and La Paz.
Uruguay face tactical dilemma 9:38pm on 06 Oct 2009 talking about the Molinas and Rojas issue I am biased as I go to most Olimpia games but I think they both have outstanding potential who still have some way to go before they make it into the national side. Molinas has thrived and come on leaps and bounds under Kiese and I'm relieved they have stayed on at Olimpia at least until the end of the year.
Uruguay face tactical dilemma 9:26pm on 06 Oct 2009 I find it remarkable that Uruguay haven't lost in Wc qualifiers at high altitude since that 4-0 hammering they received in 1997. For 2002 they drew 0 - 0 in La Paz and 1 - 1 in Quito, 0 - 0 in both La Paz and Quito for 2006 and 2 - 2 in La Paz for South Africa. The battle against the altitude is psychological, I remember in 2000 Nacional went to La Paz to play Bolivar in the Libertadores and their manager had critised the altitude heavily beforehand and they were obviously petrified and 3 - 0 down after 25 mins. Until the 2002 qualfiers Paraguay had always played the altitude effect down and had only ever lost once; yet in the last two qualifiers they have moaned about it previously and lost. The most successful teams playing at altitude in recent qualifiers (this is only my opinion) have been Uruguay and Chile and they packed midfield and played the ball short, Argentina tried to play like it wasn't an issue earlier this year and were fine for the first half an hour and then collapsed. Finally I think the altitude is a double edged sword for the home team because it is an advantage both physical and mental but if you hit them back or make them realise you aren't going to let it affect you they are so surprised that they don't know how to react. Whatsmore, when teams from the altitude go down to sealevel they are already conditioned in their minds that they have lost a certain natural advantage.
Premier danger for South America 5:47pm on 22 Sep 2009 you talked about a revival in Uruguay which is encouraging, because their situation in the last twenty years has been pretty dire, they won 7 Libertadores up until 1988 but since then nothing, and the main reason was the "contratistas" (agents) who started signing the youth players directly from the parents and bypassing the clubs. Here in Paraguay it's happened more recently, and while it has had a revolutionary effect on the national team (they have comfortably qualified for the last four World Cups) the clubs can't hope to hold on to youth players because they can't compete with the Mexican clubs who pay 10 times more.
New-look Aussies out to take Ashes chance 7:56pm on 24 Jun 2009 England seemed so much more assured last time, easing themselves up to it over time, West Indies, Zimbabwe, South Africa, Bangladesh, then the one day series, it all seemed to be leading up effortlessly to the Ashes, and we seemed to have a more settled side, Vaughan, Trescothick, Pietersen, Straussy, Preddy, Hoggy, Harmi, the Joneses, the England team just don't give off that sense of confidence or of being a settled side this time, it just seems so much more hectic and last minute, results haven't gone our way, plus we've had injuries, the captaincy saga and the fact that more and more cricket is being forced into the calender. it's a pity and rather frustrating.
Problems in Uruguay 5:30pm on 05 Dec 2008 I was brought up in Paraguay and spent my childhood going to watch Olimpia, including the 1989 Libertadores final against Atletico Nacional. Although crowds were boisterous they were amicable and violence was unheard of even between the fans from rival teams. I returned recently and went to watch Olimpia - Universidad Catolica in the Copa Sudamericana and it was unpleasant, even scary. The Olimpia fans were holding running battles among themselves causing people with children to flee from the stampede and the only exit was up at the end where they were fighting.
European game puts South America in shade 9:58pm on 23 Sep 2008 your interest in Paraguayan football is heartening. I keep Bolivian and Paraguay league lines up simply coz no one else does. The league's here remind me more of my youth watching Rainham Town against Leatherhead than the professional leagues in England though.

Tim Venables, Asuncion
Paraguay's remarkable progress 03:37am on 19 Sep 2008 hi Tim, I'm an ex-pat who has spent the last ten years investigating the Bolivian League (1977- until present) I have all the goalscorers of which most are argentine. Thanks for your blog, it really puts things in perspective. timuka@gmail.com

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