To all the ignorant numpties making
throwaway comments about Cavani just being a mercenary:
At the 2010 World Cup, a few hours after that infamous game with Ghana, Uruguay's vice-Captain Sebastián Eguren suggested they should do something to celebrate their success, be thankful for it and "pay it forward" to future generations so they could get the support they had lacked on their way there. He suggested half their prize money went towards creating a foundation (Fundacion Celeste, i.e. lightblue foundation) that provided better training facilities for the NT youth teams. Everyone agreed. At the time Cavani was still at Palermo, Suarez was at Ajax, Godín at Villarreal and Lugano at Fenerbahce. The only one you could say was comfortable/minted was Forlan.
Since then, every time there's an international tournament they have repeated the exercise. Furthermore, the key NT players (largely those mentioned above) get image rights money for making all sorts of appearances and sponsorship photoshoots, that also gets donated. In 2017 when the local equivalent of the Championship couldn't start due to indebted clubs and players not being paid, each and every registered player got $1700 from this image rights fund. Over here that is two months' wages for a Championship player.
The foundation hasn't only funded a training complex but also has three other programmes:
1. Players didn't always make so much money and are also notorious for not being very good at managing it or getting duped out of it by hangers on. The foundation funds a home and stipend for past NT players that have fallen into hardship.
2. If the youth teams needed help, what do you leave for amateur sports? Those representing our colours internationally get support from the foundation.
3. There's an organised "baby football" league were kids cut their teeth before getting to an age when clubs have their own setups. They have a programme whereby after each game if a team has followed three rules: 1. Parents behaved, 2. Kids were supportive of each other, 3. The coach has played all players and left no unused subs, they get a "light blue card" and at the end of the season those with the most cards get full kits, balls and whatnot.
Sure, I hear you, they make so much money they can afford to (even if they don't need to). But then, there's also the way they are actively invested in the youth setup and their fortunes. Whenever there's a Youth World Cup, they watch the games, they call them throughout the tournament to express their support, cheer them on, pick them up when things don't go well, and often have one to ones with specific players to share tips and give them feedback.
In the 00s decade, when the likes of Cavani were the kids we rarely qualified at any age group and the best we got was a second round exit. In the last decade we featured in most of the U17 and U20 WCs and were losing finalists twice and semifinalists once. Not bad for a puny little country with 3M people in it.
Mercenary my ***
