Uruguay will make it ‘unfriendly’ for Aussies

URUGUAY coach Jorge Fossati is ready for a tough final hurdle against Australia but is confident of reaching the 2006 World Cup finals.

“They have some quality players and a very experienced coach with an excellent track record,” said Fossati after a 1-0 win over already-qualified Argentina clinched the play-off place as the fifth team in the South American qualifying group.

Australia’s much-travelled Dutch coach Guus Hiddink led South Korea to the World Cup semi-finals in 2002.

“He knows how to get the best out of a team,” said Fossati.

Uruguay reached the play-offs against the Oceania Zone winners for the second time - they beat Australia 3-1 on aggregate to reach the 2002 finals.

They were without midfielder Javier Delgado who tore his knee ligament playing for his Russian club Saturn Ramenskoye and the 30-year-old is unlikely to be fit for the play-offs.

However, Alvaro Recoba, a name to haunt the Socceroos, scored the winner on Wednesday.

Four years ago the dead-ball specialist supplied the crosses for both Richard Morales goals to knock out Australia.

Morales is still in the Uruguay side, playing alongside Diego Forlan who shook off his Manchester United misery to emerge as leading scorer in Europe with Villarreal last season.

Forlan notched 25 goals in the Spanish first division to earn himself a share of the European Golden Boot with Arsenal’s Thierry Henry.

Australia have lost twice in the play-off system, crashing out to Iran for a place in France ‘98.

Uruguay will stage the first leg on November 12 with the return match in Sydney on November 16 and Fosatti is looking for the vociferous home fans to lift his side.

“We have got to make it as unfriendly for them as possible,” he said.

Hopefully, the fans will not behave as badly as they did four years ago when the Socceroos were spat on by a menacing crowd at the Montevideo airport.

Elsewhere, Lilian Thuram, who answered a call to return to international football to help France qualify for the World Cup, is unsure he will be playing in the tournament.

“I don’t know if I’ll be there. I’ll see how I am in the spring,” said the Juventus defender.

“It’s not easy playing so many games at this high level, especially as I’m no longer 20 years old.”

Thuram joined Zinedine Zidane and Claude Makelele in coming out of international retirement after calling it a day after Euro2004.

Thuram, 33, is France’s second-most capped player having made 106 appearances following Wednesday’s 4-0 win over Cyprus which, coupled with Switzerland being held 0-0 in Dublin, ensured France qualified for the World Cup for the first time since 1986.

France failed to qualify for the 1990 and 1994 tournaments and qualified automatically as hosts in 1998 and defending champions in 2002.