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Uruguay’s population isn’t much more than that of Greater Manchester, but the country of three million has produced a team good enough to be ranked seventh in the world.

Semi-finalists in the 2010 World Cup and Copa America winners a year later ahead of Brazil, Argentina, Colombia and Chile, their national team has a famed front three comprising Luis Suarez, Diego Forlan and Edison Cavani.

The tiny country also gave the world Danny Bergara, a man who became more popular in Stockport than anyone from the town. Bergara passed away in 2007, gone but not forgotten and Edgeley Park still flies a Uruguay flag.

The three aforementioned strikers have spent the last few days in training at Uruguay’s isolated Sete Lagoas camp 50 miles north of Belo Horizonte ahead of tonight’s game against England in South America’s biggest city, Sao Paulo.

The mood was relaxed until Uruguay were stunned by their 3-1 defeat to Costa Rica.

Players were friendly and confident ahead of games in their tough group. That all changed after the opening day loss.

Paranoia began to creep in as details from Uruguay’s behind closed-doors training sessions were leaked. English journalists were escorted from the hotel once Uruguay had fulfilled their minimum media commitments, but Forlan provided a more welcoming face inside the team hotel.

He recently turned 35 and now plays his football in Japan, where he’s learning a fifth language, Japanese, alongside new wife Paz. He tries to watch former club United as much as he can, loves it when he hears fans sing his song about scoring two at Anfield and wants to go to an away game with United fans when he retires. Ideally at Anfield.

He’s still in excellent shape, but knows he’s not the player he was four years ago in South Africa when he was the tournament’s joint top scorer and the player of the tournament.

Twice European golden boot winner, Forlan has enjoyed a superb career and holds a record 112 caps for his country. He’d like to go into management, not that it is on his mind at the moment as he weighs up the game against an England team he thinks is going to really improve as its young players mature.

Not that he can say that publicly as no players are allowed to speak before tonight’s game – unless it’s to favoured Uruguayan media.

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Forlan is looking forward to the game and to seeing an old team-mate and friend, Wayne Rooney.

Attention has switched from Forlan to the team’s new star Luis Suarez, who has an autobiography in English out in the autumn which will sell well if he’s still at Liverpool where he’s idolised. He’d love the last chapter to be about a successful World Cup finals in Brazil, but Suarez hasn’t played a game since the end of the season. He says he’s fit for tonight.

Edison Cavani is Uruguay’s other key man. The Paris St Germain forward has an offer to join United. Cavani, 27, likes the prospect, but wouldn’t want a repeat of his situation in Paris where he plays second fiddle to Zlatan Ibrahimovic.

Cavani, the sixth most expensive player in the world since his €64 million transfer from Napoli to Paris a year ago, feels he’s good enough to be the leading striker at a club and is wary of joining United given Robin van Persie’s status.

The Dutchman struggled with injury last season and didn’t always enjoy the same positive relationship with David Moyes which he has with new United boss Louis van Gaal. That was evident as Holland got off to an epic start against Spain, with the sublime Van Persie scoring twice and that bodes well for United next season. Cavani scored himself in Uruguay’s opening game, but it ended disastrously for his team.

It’s do or die for both teams tonight in the World Cup’s most intriguing game so far.