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Uruguay through to the big dance in S Africa
(China Daily)
Updated: 2009-11-20 09:55

MONTEVIDEO: Uruguay finished the job on Wednesday, qualifying for the 2010 World Cup with a 1-1 draw against Costa Rica.

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The South American side had gained the upper hand in its playoff against North and Central America's Costa Rica with a 1-0 victory at San Jose on Saturday and duly wrapped up the 32nd and final spot in the finals in South Africa.

The South Americans victory on a 2-1 aggregate sends Uruguay back to the World Cup finals for the first time since 2002 - where they will seek to add to the titles they won in 1930 and 1950.

Substitute Sebastian Abreu came on for Uruguay in the 65th minute and immediately made his presence felt.

The Greece-based striker headed home a goal off a ball from Andres Scotti in the 70th minute to open the scoring.

Costa Rica responded just four minutes later as Walter Centeno scored. Uruguay through to the big dance in S Africa

"It was a tough game," Uruguay coach Oscar Tabarez said. "Our opponents really made us work. Right now I want to see these guys celebrate. Really, the achievement is theirs. At one moment we were almost out of the qualifying and now we can enjoy making it."

The crowd of 18,000 at Estadio Centenario had an agonizing wait through seven minutes of stoppage time, after the match was halted for five minutes when Costa Rica substitutes got embroiled in a sideline scuffle with some television reporters with 10 minutes remaining.

When play resumed, Costa Rica's Alvaro Saborio threatened in the penalty area, but his shot was wide of Fernando Muslera's goal and time ran out for the Central Americans.

Costa Rica miss out on the finals for the first time since 1998 - a tough end to a campaign which saw them lead the final round of qualifying for North and Central America and Caribbean region earlier this year.

For Uruguay it was a third straight qualifying playoff. They qualified to Korea-Japan in 2002 by beating Australia, the same opponents who beat them for a 2006 berth.

AFP