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Uruguay have one foot in South Africa after claiming a 1-0 win over a spirited ten-man Costa Rica side, courtesy of a first-half strike from captain Diego Lugano in World Cup play-off action. The proceedings began with plenty of niggling fouls by either side as they felt each other out in the first ten minutes. The first real chance fell to Costa Rica midfielder Cristian Bolanos, who cut inside from the right, but his curling effort was straight at Lazio shot stopper Fernando Muslera in the Uruguay goal. However, events took a dramatic turn on 22 minutes. Diego Forlan nearly scored a spectacular goal with a one-time that flashed across the face of goal, that was put out for a corner. From the set-piece, Forlan got his head to the ball and the Ticos defence failed to clear the danger, allowing centre-back Lugano to latch onto the loose ball and tap home from close range. Despite initially looking shocked by the setback, Costa Rica had the better of the play in the last twenty minutes of the first 45 minutes. Bolanos, who had been one of the bright spots for the home side, put in a cross that was just too long for strikers ...

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River Plate, with a good tactical game, generated a good amount of play and was only the Ecuadorian team, Liga de Quito. The Uruguayan team started winning after the goal done by Richard Porta. Ecuadorians tie the only time in which they reached the bow of Dos Santos. But River did not change its game and the winning goal was on the feet of Cordoba. Now we have to go to Quito, Ecuador where they become stronger, with an own goal, but knowing that win or tie, River goes to the final of the South American Cup. Stadium: Estadio Centenario. Referee: Carlos Simon. Lines Altemir Hausmann and Roberto Braatz (Brazil). River Plate: Luciano Dos Santos, Diego Sosa, Ronaldo Conceicao, Mauricio Prieto, Gonzalo Porras Mario Rizotto, Diego Silva (76 'Luis Torrecillas), John Varela (71' Andresinho), Federico Puppo, Jorge Cordova and Richard Porta (45 ' Jorge Zambrana). Head Coach: Juan Ramon Carrasco. Substitutes: Ernesto Hernandez, Sergio Bica, Timshel Tabarez and Leandro Silva. Liga de Quito: Alexander Dominguez, Jairo Campos, Norberto Araujo, Carlos Espinola, Neicer Reasco (Renan Calle), Ulises de la Cruz, William Araujo (80 'Cristian Lara), Diego Armando Calderon, Edison Mendez, Claudio Graf (64' Victor Estupiñan) and Claudio Bieler. Head Coach: Jorge Fossati. Replacements: Francisco ...

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Should the FA formula does not accept the debate, the white formula will make an "open hearing" in which media will nominate journalists and social and trade union leaders to ask about the PN proposals. "They have spent more than four months saying that they would debate and when we agree to be there they go backwards accusing us of straining the electoral environment, when the truth is that FA leaders have been constantly attacking us since 28 July to date. I have been called “lap dog” by Senator Mujica, he attempted to discredit us throughout the country and during the whole campaign. He has just said that if there is no other choice he will talk with Dr. Lacalle. The institutionalism of policital parties is not being recognized, "said Larrañaga. On the other hand, Mujica said that if former President Jorge Batlle retracts his earlier statements on alleged links between FA presidential candidate and accountant Feldman, he could consider changing his decision of not debating. According to Mujica, everything that PN members said about the Feldman case aimed at avoiding the participation of his party in the debate; Mujica also said that he was in favor of debating "without conditions". Full story and ...

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The IDB (Banco Interamericano de Desarrollo) will provide a four million dollar support to Uruguay to be used in the financial regulation and supervision of the country. One objective is to strengthen the role of Banco Central del Uruguay (BCU) Superintendence of Financial Services, which oversees banks, insurance companies, stockbrokers and fund managers Interim Savings. The funds will allow personnel training and also access to new technologies. By improving the functions of BCU Superintendence, Uruguay will seek to adopt international standards in all areas of financial oversight. Full story and link can be found at: http://www.uruguaydailynews.com/news.php?viewStory=3864

San Jose: Uruguay took a big step towards reaching the 2010 World Cup finals on Saturday with a 1-0 win away to Costa Rica in the first leg of their qualifying playoff. A 22nd-minute goal from defender Diego Lugano secured the win for Uruguay, who finished fifth in South American qualifying and had to play-off with Costa Rica from the CONCACAF region. Costa Rica's task of turning the game around was made harder after Randall Azofeifa was sent off in the 53rd minute for a second yellow card. The result gives two-times World Cup winners Uruguay a strong advantage going into Wednesday's second leg in Montevideo. Full story and link can be found at: http://www.dnaindia.com/sport/report_uruguay-get-advantage-with-1-0-win-in-costa-rica_1312068

SAN JOSE, California: Uruguay took another step towards the 2010 World Cup with captain Diego Lugano's first-half strike proving enough for a 1-0 victory in the first leg of their qualifying play-off against Costa Rica. The second leg of the tie will be held on Wednesday in Montevideo, where Costa Rica can expect to struggle to turn things around. Uruguay are hoping to return to the global football showcase after losing their qualification play-off to Australia in the 2006 event. Costa Rica, who have appeared in the past two World Cups, were less than 30 seconds from qualifying last month when they allowed Jonathan Bornstein's goal in injury time to give the United States a 2-2 draw at Washington. That gave Honduras the third and final direct entry berth from the North and Central America and the Caribbean region. Uruguay reached the play-off by finishing fifth in South American qualifying. In African qualifying, Egypt's last-gasp goal against Algeria set up a one-match play-off between the two teams for a place in next year's final, while Nigeria and Cameroon both secured spots in South Africa. Algeria were just moments away from qualifying, but a goal late in stoppage time from Emad Meteab gave Egypt a 2-0 win in ...

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“We anticipate that Uruguay will come out fine with the ruling”, said Reichler who visited the Botnia pulp mill in Fray Bentos which has been in production for two years. However this “does not mean that Argentina will be left in an uncomfortable position”. Reichler quoted by the Uruguayan press said the ruling will most probably state that the pulp mill does not violate the Uruguay/Argentina joint administration treaty of the River Uruguay, as claimed by Argentina to demand the immediate re-location of the plant, but it will also include a chapter underlining Argentina’s concern with the environment impact and its responsibility in the issue. “Argentina complied with its duties before its own people”, said Reichler. “The resolution will be positive for both sides for having tried to solve the conflict. “Winning or loosing is less relevant than the fact that it will put an end to the ongoing controversy in a fair and just form opening the way for the resumption of a normal relation between the neighbouring countries, which is what really matters”, pointed out Reichler from Foley & Hoag, Boston who represent Uruguay in The Hague. The final ruling is expected to be drafted in ...

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The former president (1990/1995) said Uruguay is banned constitutionally from calling elections for the Mercosur Parliament, which is made up of Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguay as full members. Venezuela is in the process of incorporation. “You can’t legislate to call elections (in Uruguay) for the Mercosur parliament. We need a constitutional amendment which must also be approved by a referendum”, said Lacalle during a meeting with foreign correspondents. “So luckily we’ll be out of the Mercosur Parliament…and that’s when the death of the organization will begin, hopefully, the sooner the quicker”, said the opposition candidate who will be facing incumbent and former guerrilla leader Jose Pepe Mujica. The Mercosur Parliament was established in 2006 but has had since shown lack of capacity, influence and effectiveness to address issues in a block that has been dominated by trade disputes and conflicts between country members. According to the latest opinion polls released this week, Mr. Mujica is nine points ahead of Lacalle (49% to 40%). In the first round at the end of October the ruling catch all coalition Broad Front managed to retain control of Parliament but was half a percentage point short of the 50% plus ...

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Uruguay Under-17 was eliminated in their quarterfinal match, after loosing to powerful Spanish national team in the penalty shootout. It was an exciting game with penalties, controversial moves, ejected players, six goals, and an electrifying additional time, but the final result was a victory to Spain 4-2 in the penalty shootout. Ronald Marcenaro, Uruguayans head coach, was satisfied by the spirit the team showed and said that these kids will grow professionaly and will be great players in the future. “I believe that this generation will be able to do great things in the future. I’m sure that in the next tournament these kids will go beyond final quarters”, Marcenaro said. Uruguay x Spain: “It was a magnificent game and we were able to show what we can do, though nobody believed in us. We had bad luck at the end, but we played with our heart and that’s very important to our country”, Marcenaro added. Full story and link can be found at: http://www.uruguaydailynews.com/news.php?viewStory=3848

A former left-wing guerrilla has taken a commanding lead in several exit polls from Uruguay's presidential election. But most polls show Senator Jose Mujica has narrowly failed to pass the 50% needed to avoid a run-off vote. If a second round is officially confirmed, he is likely to face his main conservative rival, the former president, Luis Lacalle. After polls closed, supporters of his ruling left-wing Broad Front Party celebrated in the capital Montevideo. Full story and link can be found at: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/8325345.stm

The disciplinary hearing related to Diego Maradona and the incidents following the 2010 World Cup qualifying match between Uruguay and Argentina on October 14, 2009 will be held in Zurich this coming Sunday, according to fifa.com.

The outspoken Argentina coach was delighted to hit back at all the criticism that had been aimed at him following the squad's unconvincing World Cup qualification campaign, as six points from the last two qualifiers saw the Albicelestes through to the finals.

However, FIFA's Disciplinary Committee wasn't too happy with Maradona's behavior and opened a case against him following his profanity-laced tirade on live television after Argentina qualified for next year's World Cup.

The FIFA Disciplinary Committee, chaired by Marcel Mathier, will grant the head coach of Argentina a hearing, which will take place the day after the international friendly match between Spain and Argentina in Madrid. Full story and link can be found at: http://goal.com/en-us/news/82/south-america/2009/11/10/1617127/fifa-hearing-regarding-maradona-scheduled-for-nov-15

Pollster Interconsult announced the results of the first poll concerning the runoff election or “ballotage”. The poll’s results indicate that Mujica’s ruling Frente Amplio coalition would have 47% of the votes, and Lacalle’s Partido Nacional 40%. Blank ballots are estimated to be around 2,5%, undecided 10,6%. Poll’s margin of error is somewhere about 3.3%. 5000 inhabitants (800 families) in the whole country participated in this poll. Results are considered to be 95% reliable. Full story and link can be found at: http://www.uruguaydailynews.com/news.php?viewStory=3849

Victor Lissidini, former director of Dirección Nacional de Aduanas (Customs) said that he knew that in 2002 Saúl Feldman was on a list of 10 people linked to arms trade, but he was not allowed to investigate further. Now Lissidini has been removed from office for usurpation. According to Lissidini, it was something “that could not be investigated“ at that time. Former director of Aduanas said that nobody even asked him to show the list with the names of the alleged smugglers. “Investigations then suggested that those individuals did not possess war weapons. What happens is that people worry too much, but do not keep themselves busy enough. It is not acceptable to have policemen earning low salaries, but what is even worse is to force them to face individuals armed to their teeth”, said Lissidini. Full story and link can be found at: http://www.uruguaydailynews.com/news.php?viewStory=3855

Jorge Larrañaga, PN vice presidential candidate, was sorry to see that Mujica did not accept debating. He said that the FA candidate is hiding and that he is not a man of his word. According to Larrañaga, the debate was essential to let Uruguayans know what each candidate thinks about “security, employment, health, education, and foreign policies”, among other important subjects. “There was a possibility of promoting debates and dialogues with the opposition, and they did not take it. If they don’t do it now before taking power, what guaranties do we have of an understanding with opposition when they come to power? We believe that this reveals a huge frailty of senator Mujica candidacy. I say this with respect, but also firmly. I realize that many people do not see senator Mujica as someone prepared to be the president of this nation”, said Larrañaga. Larrañaga also said that if the debate was cancelled for offenses between the parties (FA felt attacked by PN), it is important to recall that Mujica treated some PN members as “coupists”. Lacalle, PN presidential candidate, regreted that there won’t be a debate and said that dialogue is essential to reach nacional agreements. Full story and link can be ...

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Uruguay is one of the twelve Latin American countries participating since yesterday in Seoul Forum. The aim of the forum is to increase the cooperation among South Korea, Latin America and the Caribbean. Álvaro García, Uruguayan Minister of Economy, was at the event and confirmed his support to a Free Trade Agreement (TLC in Spanish) between Mercosur and South Korea; he did not rule out the possibility of a bilateral trade agreement between Uruguay and South Korea. He said that South Korea is one of the few countries not affected by the financial recession, and he believes that having an agreement with this country gives us a favorable position. About Uruguay, the Minister said “that the country had an economic growth around 9% in 2008” and that a growth of 1.5% is expected for this year. He also pointed out the country’s “legal certainty and political stability” which allowed direct foreign investments to increase 15 times in 2008 compared to 1998 results”. García also highlighted the importance of Uruguay for having the main terminal port of the region. Full story and link can be found at: http://www.uruguaydailynews.com/news.php?viewStory=3857

BUENOS AIRES (Dow Jones)--The International Monetary Fund on Wednesday concluded its annual "Article IV" review of Uruguay and praised the country for policies that it said reduced Uruguay's exposure to the global financial crisis. The review is part of an agreement between the IMF and member countries in which IMF teams visit countries, collect data and talk with local officials about economic policy and developments. "The Uruguayan economy has held up considerably well in the face of the global recession," the IMF said in a statement. "The impact of the crisis appears to have been relatively short-lived." The IMF praised Uruguay for boosting macroeconomic stability, strengthening its financial system through "prudent banking regulations," increasing international reserves, and maintaining a flexible exchange rate system. Uruguay's economy is on track to expand by 0.6% this year and by 3.5% in 2010, according to the IMF. "Medium-term prospects are good, as considerable (foreign direct investment) in recent years has contributed to substantial productivity improvements in the tradable sectors," the IMF said. After commending Uruguay for its oversight of the economy and financial system, the IMF said the country "should continue to aim at debt reduction." The IMF welcomed Uruguay's plans "to contain growth in non-priority areas in the near term, ...

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A total of 33 vessels and 194 calls are anticipated for this summer according to Uruguayan authorities. However the big news this season is that the international Atlantic sea resort Punta del Este expects 113 calls compared to the 81 for Montevideo. This can be explained because three cruise operators, MSC (Mediterranean Shipping Co), Costa Cruceros and Brazil’s CVE are betting strongly in the Brazilian, Argentine and European markets, in that order. CVE is a strong Brazilian operator which last year chartered a cruise vessel and for this season has contracted “Empress” and “Zenith” with at least nine calls each. Most of these cruises are relatively short in time with a big turnover and travelling along the Brazilian, Uruguayan and Argentine coastline. Punta del Este as the main point of attraction is expected to receive 100.000 tourists in the next four months with intense cruise traffic in the Bay of Maldonado. According to schedule on two occasions this summer, five cruise vessels will be anchoring in Punta del Este on the same day; four vessels on three days; six times three vessels and two cruises will coincide on fourteen days. Lacking appropriate harbour facilities launches from the same ...

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Uruguay and Russia last week held a new consultation meeting in Moscow between their respective foreign ministries to make a development of bilateral relations and assess investment alternatives in the future for the country. In that sense, the Russian government expressed interest in investing in the rail industry, aeronautics and automotive, as in the exploration of hydrocarbon deposits. In the meeting reviewed various aspects of economic and political relations and bilateral trade and regional issues of interest to both countries. Uruguay attended by Undersecretary of Foreign Affairs, representing Nelson Fernandez and his counterpart from the Russian government, Sergei Riabkov. The two deputy ministers highlighted the good times are happening on the relations between Uruguay and Russia and the possibilities of maintaining and increasing including issues related to energy and Russia's interest in rail issues, and possible partnerships to manufacture light aircraft in Uruguay and buses. In an interview with The Country Under Secretary for Foreign Affairs, Nelson Fernandez, said that Russia's trade agenda "broadcast" that had companies interested in making investments in the country in the energy field for both oil prospecting deposits of shale oil or gas. Meanwhile, in the automotive sector and the Russian authorities were aware that Uruguay had been installed in Chinese ...

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Botnia now meets two years of activity in Uruguay, but not all celebration. Argentine experts say the plant emits nonylphenol, a chemical capable of altering the hormonal system in mammals and fish. Since the dynamo is rejected the report. An article published yesterday in the Argentine daily Pagina 12 reported a report of experts from Argentina, which "showed strong evidence that the Botnia plant emits nonylphenol in the river Uruguay. This substance in large doses "can alter the hormone system of both people and mammals and fish," discussed in the article. In fact (nonylphenol and its derivatives, which are used for pesticides, detergents, paints and lubricants) were banned by the European Union since January 2005 as this is a "hazardous substance". The report referred to page 12 was made by Juan Carlos Colombo, director of the Laboratory of Environmental Chemistry of the Universidad Nacional de La Plata (Argentina). Analysis of paid specialists thesis of previous reports of the entire University of La Plata and the university that relate to the existence of "traces of nonylphenol and lindane Gammexane like poison" in the river sediment and algae Uruguay. The new analysis says that "after six rounds, this second sample gave a concentration of 962 ng ...

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Former president Jorge Batlle ratified his accusation in the presence of judge Jorge Díaz. Batlle summoned presidential candidate José Mujica and tupamaros leader Julio Marenales to clarify before the law their supposed relationship with accountant Julio Feldman and the arsenal found in Aires Puros. On the other hand, Frente Amplio (FA) candidate, José Mujica, said that all of this had to do with bringing back to life “Political corpses who appear at this point of the crusade to pose hypothesis. A supposed arms dealer from the Jewish community appeared on the scene, becoming a frightening piece of the left wing tenebrous lucrubations. Those accusations are unfounded, but it does not matter now, it seems to be time for denigration. Dr. Sanguinetti and Dr. Batlle became our inquisitors, but their arguments are groundless”. Full story and link can be found at: http://www.uruguaydailynews.com/news.php?viewStory=3838