Rodriguez named in Uruguay squad
MONTEVIDEO - World Cup semi-finalists Uruguay have recalled Porto midfielder Cristian Rodriguez into their Copa America squad named on Tuesday after he missed out on South Africa last year.
Coach Oscar Tabarez, who unveiled the squad for the regional tournament in Argentina starting Friday, left Rodriguez out of the 2010 World Cup because he was carrying a suspension that meant he would miss their first two group matches.
Now Rodriguez, a regular in the 2010 World Cup qualifiers, gets his chance to help Uruguay try to win the South American title for the first time since 1995.
The squad is largely the same as last year's at the World Cup in South Africa where the twice world champions surprised with their progress to the last four after mediocre results for a half a century.
Uruguay are in Group C, based in the Andean cities of Mendoza and San Juan, with Peru, Chile and Mexico. They open against Peru on Monday.
Squad:
Goalkeepers: Fernando Muslera (Lazio), Andres Silva (Defensor Sporting), Juan Castillo (Colo Colo).
Defenders: Diego Lugano (Fenerbahce), Diego Godin (Atletico Madrid), Sebastian Coates (Nacional), Mauricio Victorino (Cruzeiro), Andres Scotti (Colo Colo), Martin Caceres (Sevilla), Maximiliano Pereira (Defensor Sporting).
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Midfielders: Alvaro Pereira, Cristian Rodriguez (both Porto), Egidio Arevalo Rios (Botafogo), Sebastian Eguren (Real Sporting), Diego Perez (Bologna), Walter Gargano (Napoli), Alvaro Gonzalez (Lazio), Nicolas Lodeiro (Ajax).
Forwards: Edinson Cavani (Napoli), Diego Forlan (Atletico Madrid), Luis Suarez (Liverpool), Sebastian Abreu (Botafogo), Abel Hernandez (Palermo).
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