Uruguay’s incendiary Spain tweet that has gone viral

After Uruguay’s embarrassing World Cup exit and the chaotic scenes that followed, with Canobbio sent off for a brutal challenge on Cubarsí, then shoving the referee and becoming involved in a touchline brawl, the Celeste’s official account could think of no better way to summarise the match than by posting an image of the Fluminense midfielder appearing to strike Cucurella in the face.

The tweet unleashed a flood of replies and comments. Within a short period, it surpassed 2,000 responses and sparked a heated debate between a global audience and Uruguayans, who were the only ones defending the excessive aggression displayed by Marcelo Bielsa’s poor-performing team throughout the match.

With no accompanying text, the post consisted solely of the image showing Canobbio’s right hand making contact with Cucurella’s face. The message appeared to justify the incident and further highlighted the unsporting behaviour shown by the Uruguayans, both on and off the pitch, during the match.

The same pattern had emerged four years earlier, when Uruguay also failed to progress from the group stage at the World Cup in Qatar against Ghana, an episode that included Cavani damaging the VAR monitor. Reports of dressing-room chaos under Bielsa, combined with the disappointing scenes on the pitch that later spilled over onto social media, ultimately led nowhere. A farce.

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