Celebrating the centennial of the Copa America means commemorating the contribution made by Uruguay.
This tiny country, with population a little over three million, became that mouse that kept on roaring. Uruguay won the inaugural Copa in 1916, and their early prowess was shown off to a startled Europena audience when they won gold in the Olympic tournaments of 1924 and 28, which led directly to the birth of the World Cup, staged -- and won -- by Uruguay in 1930.
Twenty years later they won the next World Cup they entered, and did not lose a game in the competition until the 1954 semi-final in extra time against the great Hungarians -- a game rated by many at the time as the greatest ever played. But Uruguay were already showing signs of becoming victims of their own success; they had done so much to spread the global game, but how could such a small country continue to be competitive?
There seemed to be something of a last hurrah when they reached the semi-finals of the 1970 World Cup, but after that came mediocrity. They were humiliated by the Dutch in 1974, failed even to qualify for five of the next eight World Cups and made little impression when they did. "Other countries have their history," went a famous phrase, "but Uruguay has its football."
Increasingly, though, it appeared that Uruguay's footballing success was only a matter for the history books. And then, just over 10 years ago, Oscar Washington Tabarez took over for his second spell in charge of the national team.
The mouse is roaring once more. Uruguay reached the semi-finals of the 2010 World Cup, won the 2011 Copa America and have become a force to be feared once more. In the current World Cup qualification campaign they have yet to put out their full strength side -- either star striker Luis Suarez or defensive lynchpin Diego Godin have been missing. And yet after six rounds Uruguay sit on top of the table.
This is an achievement that reflects two sides of the veteran Uruguay coach; Tabarez is a man of football, a centre-back before he embarked on a highly successful coaching career. And he is also an academic, a trained teacher who is nicknamed "El Maestro."
Before taking on the Uruguay job in 2006 (his first spell included the 1989 Copa America and 1990 World Cup), Tabarez spent some time brooding on the theme of globalisation and its effects on football in his country. He came to one clear conclusion: The demands of domestic Uruguayan football were no longer compatible with those of the top class international game.
The opening up of a global market in players had clearly made it impossible for such a small country to keep hold of its stars. The local league had some promising youngsters, some grizzled veterans, and little quality in between. This meant that those who stood out in the Uruguayan league were not necessarily good enough for the national team -- and that those good players who left at an early age ran the risk of losing a connection with the land of their birth.
The solution for this was to invest in the national youth sides. Tabarez and his team went looking to identify youngsters with the capacity to shine at a top level. Above all they were looking for speed: speed of movement, speed of thought, speed of technical execution. And once players with these attributes had been identified, they were given a crash course in the historical identity of the Uruguayan national team. In the future, if they were to be called back from their European club to represent that national team, they had to know all about the importance of that sky blue shirt.
The success of this project is plain to see. In recent years Uruguay have consistently done well at the Under-20 level. And more importantly, the Under-20 sides are producing a conveyor belt of talent that seamlessly graduates to the senior side.
After having thought long and hard about his country's footballing identity, Tabarez decided a decade ago that the national teams at all levels would operate in a 4-3-3 formation. It was a dogma that lasted precisely one competitive game; in their debut in the 2007 Copa America, Uruguay were brushed aside by Peru. Tabarez had a rapid rethink. Reality, he swiftly concluded, had defeated him on this point. Uruguay could no longer afford the belief that history gave them the right to seek to impose themselves on the game. A more pragmatic approach was called for.
And so Tabarez sought to mould teams that were difficult to beat, teams that frequently had no intention of out-playing the opposition, that would often acknowledge that the opposition had more talent -- but teams which, nonetheless, retained a faith in their capacity to win the game. Uruguay's coach is delighted by a statistic from his side's run to the semi-finals of the 2010 World Cup; in every game the opposition had more possession. But Uruguay had more shots.
It is something of a surprise that Tabarez has chosen to bring his full strength squad to the United States for the Copa America Centenario. There are some ageing limbs in there which might have been better served with a rest, especially as, much to the coach's annoyance, Uruguay have been handed a crazy itinerary which requires them to keep moving from coast to coast.
The tournament could have served as an opportunity to blood more graduates from recent Under-20 sides. But Tabarez is bringing his established stars -- and is even prepared to wait in the hope that Luis Suarez can recover from a muscular problem. Uruguay's coach makes it clear that the World Cup qualifiers are his priority. But his squad selection may reveal that, on the quiet, Oscar Washington Tabarez might just believe that his men are in with a chance of lifting the trophy, pragmatically edging their way towards a title won by their predecessors a century ago.