(Reuters) – Luis Suarez, Edinson Cavani, Diego Godin, Fernando Muslera and Martin Caceres were hailed by the Uruguayan Football Association (AUF) on Wednesday for making their fourth World Cup appearance in the tournament in Qatar.
As a symbolic act of Uruguay’s generational change, World Cup debutants Sergio Rochet, Ronald Araujo, Mathias Olivera, Federico Valverde and Darwin Nunez, alongside AUF president Ignacio Alonso, presented a gift to acknowledge the leaders of the South American team.
“In this World Cup there are five members of this delegation who are reaching their fourth World Cup, which in the history of Uruguayan football only one player was able to achieve: Pedro Virgilio Rocha (in 1974),” Alonso said.
“These players are in full force, they have a lot of history to write and who knows if they don’t break the record.
“They are going to receive recognition from five players who are making their debuts and who, God willing, will also have the opportunity to reach their record of four or five,” he added.
Uruguay will begin their campaign against South Korea on Thursday before taking on Portugal and Ghana in Group H.
(Reporting by Janina Nuno Rios in Mexico City, editing by Pritha Sarkar)
