Eduardo Galeano on Uruguayan soccer

Two legends: Diego Maradona and Enzo Francescoli

Enzo Francescoli, the Uruguayan legend spent five years in the French Ligue and greatly influenced Zinedine Zidane, who copied his silky smooth touch on the ball. Francescoli was the name most associated with Uruguayan soccer. A rarity after the halcyon 1940s and 1950s.

The incomparable Eduardo Galeano, writer of Open Veins of Latin America, and possibly the keenest observer of the sport wrote this of Uruguay and Francescoli.

" Now all that remains of the state's social calling, and of soccer, is nostalgia. Several players, like the very subtle Enzo Francescoli, have managed to inherit and renovate the old arts, but in general Uruguayan soccer is a far cry from what it used to be."

Uruguay will try and resurrect those days of yore against the Netherlands.