URUGUAY, give or take a couple of players based in France, were the only truly amateur team at RWC2015 but that is in the process of changing and their squad for RWC2019 will be pretty much full time.
The first step, taken last month, has been the formation of a full professional Academy at the High Performance Centre in the Estadio Charrúa which will consist of 15 top Uruguay players, all of who were involved in their successful World Cup qualifying campaign.
Most of the standout performers from that campaign – Rodrigo Silva, below, Gaston Mieres, Santiago Arata, Ignacio Dotti...