This next of Febuary one of the most awaited friendly matches since the inception of 2013 will take place, having a face-off between two great countries, a good chance to relieve excitement before the Confederations Cup. One side we have Spain, bringing the European flavor and some of the most elegant soccer in the world. On the other side, we have Uruguay, recent winners of the American Cup, but that lately have been facing some bumps along the road to the next World Cup 2014.

Carles Puyol returns to glory

The biggest news is the return of Carles Puyol, absent for the past year with the senior Spanish, and the entry of the young Francisco ‘Isco’ Alarcon, whom are the main novelties of the list of Vicente del Bosque for the friendly match against Uruguay next Wednesday in Doha. Del Bosque comments that with this two figures and an all-around great team, they haven’t left any loose ends in what he expects to be an incredible performance by his team.

Puyol wasn’t able to play with the team in February 29, 2012, when a friendly match took place against Venezuela in Malaga, which resulted in a brutal victory by the European team, ending 5-0. The next match against the Charrua team will mark the 100 match with the Spanish selection Puyol plays, a historic mark for the great player.

Helping the Spanish selection to achieve victory, we will also be able to find Isco, a Malaga player that currently is of the biggest sensations among young people, believed to be the next great promise of world soccer.  Another outstanding entry is César Azpilicueta, from Chelsea right side, instead of Juan franco Torres (Atletico Madrid) and it is also marked the absence of his teammate Fernando Torres.

Spanish summoned players include:

Goalkeepers: Víctor Valdés (Barcelona) y Pepe Reina (Liverpool/ING).

Defenders: César Azpilicueta (Chelsea/ING), Carles Puyol, Gerard Piqué, Jordi Alba (Barcelona), Sergio Ramos, Álvaro Arbeloa (Real Madrid) and Ignacio Monreal (Arsenal/ING).

Midlefielders: Xavi Hernández, Andrés Iniesta, Cesc Fábregas, Sergio Busquets (Barcelona), Xabi Alonso (Real Madrid), Santiago Cazorla (Arsenal/ING) and Isco Alarcón (Málaga).

Forwards: David Silva (Manchester City/ING), David Villa, Pedro Rodríguez (Barcelona), Juan Mata (Chelsea/ING) y Álvaro Negredo (Sevilla).

Uruguayan summoned players include:

Goalkeepers: Fernando Muslera (Galatasaray, TUR), Martín Silva (Olimpia, PAR).

Defenders: Maximiliano Pereira (Benfica, PAR), Diego Lugano (Málaga, ESP), Diego Godín (Atlético de Madrid, ESP), Sebastián Coates (Liverpool, ENG), Martín Cáceres (Juventus, ITA), Andrés Scotti (Nacional, URU), Matías Aguirregaray (Peñarol, URU).

Middlefielders: Alvaro González (Lazio, ITA), Alvaro Pereira (Palermo, ITA), Egidio Arévalo Ríos (Palermo, ITA), Diego Pérez (Bologna, ITA), Walter Gargano (Inter, ITA), Cristian Rodríguez (Atlético de Madrid, ESP), Gastón Ramírez (Southampton, ENG), Nicolás Lodeiro (Botafogo, BRA).

Forwards: Luis Suárez (Liverpool, ENG), Edinson Cavani (Napoli, ITA), Sebastián Fernández (Málaga, España), Diego Forlán (Internacional, BRA), Gonzalo Castro (Real Sociedad, ESP)