The past
Though futsal's origins can be traced back to Uruguayan soil, the Celeste have yet to firmly establish themselves on the FIFA Futsal World Cup stage. Having failed to qualify for the first two editions of the event, Uruguay finally made their debut at Spain 1996. There, they narrowly missed out on a semi-final berth after coming third in their second-phase group. A first-round exit at Guatemala 2000 was then followed by another qualifying failure on the road to Chinese Taipei 2004. As a result, Brazil 2008 marks the Charrúas' return to the elite event after eight years away.

The present
Relying heavily on the experience of goalkeeper Mauro Roibal and wide man Andres D'Alessandro, both veterans of the 1996 and 2000 campaigns, coach Daniel Darino's charges booked their ticket for Brazil 2008 after taking second spot at the recent Copa America. And despite two comprehensive defeats at the hands of the Auriverde, the Copa campaign highlighted the potential of Santiago Blenkleider. The gifted pivot was one of the stars of the tournament, and is widely considered to be a worthy successor to the legendary Nicolas Moliterno, who retired after the final. Gabriel De Simone and the Hernandez duo, Martin and Fabian, also underlined their importance to the squad.

The future
"After all the planning work we'd done in the year leading up to the Copa, we deserved a tournament display like that. We fulfilled our objective and on top of that we reached the final. Now we're going to have a rest and plan our preparations ahead of the World Cup," says Uruguay pivot Santiago Blenkleider.


The facts
Former stars
Alvaro Pineiro (1996), Daniel Varela (1996), Uriol Nunez (1996), Pablo Lamanna (1996, 2000), Claudio Guerra (1996, 2000), Nicolas Moliterno (2000).

Key players
Mauro Roibal (goalkeeper), Miguel Aguirrezabala (wide player), Walter Skurko (defender), Andres D'Alessandro (wide player), Santiago Blenkleider (pivot).

Qualifying statistics
Uruguay finished second at the Copa America, winning three and losing two of their five games. The team scored 16 goals and conceded 19, while Santiago Blenkleider lead the scoring with four strikes.

The numbers game
9 - The number of FIFA Futsal World Cup matches that Andres D'Alessandro has appeared in.