After winning the FIFA U-20 World Cup 2023, the Uruguayan national team returned home to a golden welcome from their country’s soccer fans.
The Uruguay U20 team was paraded home on Wednesday (Dec. 12) after flying in from neighboring Argentina, the host country of the tournament.
Loudly greeted by fans from the moment they landed at Carrasco International Airport near the capital, the players and coaches boarded a bus to Montevideo, where they shared their joy with the trophy and arms in the air as they lined the streets of the city center.
Fans celebrated by alternately chanting “la Celeste” (Spanish for sky blue) and “campeon” (champions), the Uruguayan national soccer team’s nickname.
Veteran Luis Suarez, who is well known to Korean fans for his long career with the national team, joined the parade midway through to liven things up.
Local media outlets such as El Observador and El Pais, which had been live-streaming the parade since the morning with headlines such as 먹튀검증“The plane has left Argentina,” “The players are about to arrive,” and “The airport is already packed,” were on hand throughout the parade to congratulate the young players on being crowned world champions.
“It gives me goosebumps,” captain Fabricio Díaz told El Observador, “I’m happy and overwhelmed. It makes me proud to be a soccer player.”
There were also many stories from players and their families.
Midfielder Rodrigo Chagas’ father, Jose Chagas, worked as a city cleaner to raise four children, including Rodrigo, who said he was traveling abroad for the first time to watch the final.
Rodrigo Chagas has made no secret of the fact that he was raised by his grandmother and father, and said, “I feel like this is my way of paying them back for always supporting me,” El Observador reported.
Midfielder Santiago Omenchenko wrote in a social media message that he would bring a “winner’s medal” to his mother, who is battling cancer, saying it was “a promise I made to myself when I started playing soccer as a child.
Uruguay lifted the tournament’s first title the day before, beating Italy 1-0 in the final at Argentina’s La Plata Stadium.
South Korea lost the third- and fourth-place matches to Israel, but finished fourth in the tournament.
