Uruguay caught the attention of many around the world with their run to the World Cup semifinalists a year ago in South Africa. Led by Diego Forlan, the Uruguayans were fantastic. Forlan won the Golden Ball and Luis Suarez showed the world why he was so highly thought of in the Netherlands. For Forlan, the tournament erased any doubts people may have had about him after his disastrous time with Manchester United, while Suarez eventually earned himself a moved to famed Liverpool. In all of the excitement surrounding Forlan and Suarez though, one other stupendous forward went largely unnoticed.
Copa America 2011, Uruguay Vs. Peru: Hold Onto Your Hats, World, Edinson Cavani Is Coming
Edinson Cacani has never been someone to overlook. In the two years before the World Cup, Cavani scored a total of 20 goals in Serie A for Palermo. He never quite made his mark internationally though. After the World Cup though, he caught fire. Since the tournament he’s scored six goals for Uruguay. At the same time, he took his play for his club, now Napoli, to a whole other level. He scored 33 times last season to help lead Napoli to a UEFA Champions League place.
It was a dream season for Cavani to move himself into rarified air. No longer is he mentioned as an afterthought to Forlan and Suarez when discussing Uruguay. Now he’s not only being mentioned as possibly Uruguay’s most dangerous player, but one of the most dangerous strikers anywhere in the world.
At 6’2” Cavani is plenty big. He adds strength to his big frame and has no problem shoving aside defenders or rising up to finish in the air. He also move extremely well for someone his size and his confidence is second-to-none. It would be impossible to put together a highlight for last season’s goals of the year without an appearance from Cavani, who is only able to pull off such spectacular goals because of an amazing confidence that he can score from anywhere in any situation.
An afterthought just a year ago, Cavani is now one of Uruguay’s leading men. With the Champions League awaiting him it won’t be long before everyone sees and knows just what a tremendous player Cavani is, but now that Copa America is getting ready to kick off, they might just find that out a little earlier.
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