Goal Programme - Asociación Uruguaya de Fútbol - 2000

With two World Cup titles and two Olympic Football triumphs to their name, as well as a number of Copa América titles, Uruguay currently lie third in the South American rankings. However, most of those successes lie in the past. Having said that, for a relatively small country, Uruguay has produced a number of excellent players in recent years (Recoba, Zalayeta, Fonseca, etc). Hundreds of Uruguayan players earn transfers abroad each year. Sustained youth development work paid dividends in 1997 with qualification for the FIFA U-17 World Championship in Malaysia. A group of players from that team now represent Uruguay at full international level. Uruguayan coaches also enjoy an excellent reputation abroad (Washington Tabarez and Victor Púa, to name but two).

The national centre of excellence in Montevideo, built to celebrate the centenary of the national association with funds from the FIFA Financial Assistance Programme and Goal (USD 100,000), was opened in the year 2000 by FIFA President Joseph S. Blatter in the presence of prominent figures from the worlds of sport and politics. The centre is now the centre of Uruguayan football life. Uruguay concentrates on promoting youth football, training coaches and developing a number of areas within football. With a long-term development strategy in place, the national association wants to repeat past successes.