Uruguay want venue of Brazil qualifier changed

Uruguayan football federation president Wilmar Valdez will ask the CBF to alter the venue for the March qualifier between Brazil and Uruguay. It is planned that the tie will take place in the Arena Pernambucano in Recife, but Uruguay are keen to move the match to another part of the country. Brazil’s previous two home […]
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sambafoot_admin
2015-11-26 22:50:00

Uruguayan football federation president Wilmar Valdez will ask the CBF to alter the venue for the March qualifier between Brazil and Uruguay. It is planned that the tie will take place in the Arena Pernambucano in Recife, but Uruguay are keen to move the match to another part of the country. Brazil’s previous two home ties in qualification have taken place in the nordeste region too, in Fortaleza and Salvador.

The Executive Committee of CONMEBOL meets in Rio de Janeiro next month and Uruguay will use the meeting to request a change of venue. Uruguay will play Peru in Montevideo four days after travelling to Brazil and they are keen to reduce the amount of travelling they will endure if they have to fly to the north of Brazil.

Uruguay based themselves in Recife for the 2013 Confederations Cup and were not satisfied with local amenities and activities, leaving their players twiddling their thumbs at their headquarters. “We tried to ask the CBF to not play the match against them in the North and we will ask again,” said Valdez

However, it does not sound as though Brazil will be prepared to play dice, with Dunga professing a preference for playing in the northeast due to the warmth of the crowd, “Brazil will have pressure in all locations. The choice depends on a number of factors. In the Northeast, we have an atmosphere, the warmth, positive energy. It is not working right now. I remember that from 1994, 1998 and other years it was always like that.”

President of the Pernambucano football federation Evandro Carvalho warned the CBF against a change of location, “They should not want to because here the crowd is behind them, and aligned. In the South and Southeast, it is not so.”