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2) Diego Godin
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The Atletico Madrid centre back has established himself as one of the finest defenders in world football under the able guidance of Diego Simeone. Godin, the defensive bed-rock, has inspired Atletico’s doggedness, which has in turn broken the stranglehold of the monopoly of Barcelona and real Madrid in La Liga.
He will be the lynchpin for La Celeste in the absence of the former captain Diego Lugano and his influence is going to be vital in the tournament. Godin’s strengths lie in the fact that he is unbeatable in the air, a magnificent reader of the game and fearless in any tackle he goes into. His organization skills at the back are solid foundation for Oscar Tabarez to build a defensive approach on.
His aerial ability is not only important in the defense but also in the opposition box. He has the ability to score from set-pieces and quite often he pops up to score match winning goals. During last year’s World Cup he scored a late header to send Italy crashing out of the tournament and also scored the all-important goal for Atletico that won them the La Liga title last year.
He epitomizes the perfect defender, one who has the ability to influence matches in both penalty areas.
1) Edinson Cavani
Diego Godin and Fernando Muslera will play an important role at the back to ensure discipline and defensive stringency. However, to top the group and to progress in the latter stages of the tournament they will need the goalscoring prowess of Edison Cavani to come to the fore. The absence of Luis Suarez makes it all the more important that Cavani finds the back of the net regularly.
Cavani enters the tournament on the back of a sensational season at PSG where he was the second highest goal scorer for the club (behind Zlatan Ibrahimovic). He ended the season by scoring what proved to be the winning goal in the Coupe de France, having scored 10 times in his final seven Ligue 1 appearances, taking his tally in the 18 for the season. For all his success at the club level, Cavani has failed to replicate the same kind of performances for Uruguay in a major tournament.
He is an important cog in the La Celeste’s attacking department as he is gifted in the air, links up with the attacking midfielders and has the ability to create chances for himself as well as his teammates. But this time he will have to be clinical with any chances that come his way.
Having been eclipsed by Diego Forlan in 2010 and by Suarez in 2011, Cavani with his all-round ability has the opportunity to lead them to the sort of glory he was part of four years ago.
