World Cup: Two-time winners Uruguay face another Asian team South Korea warriors

Two-time winners Uruguay open their 2022 World Cup campaign against South Korea at the Education City Stadium on Thursday.

La Celeste have been in excellent form since Diego Alonso took over from Oscar Tabarez at the end of last year.

The sacking of Tabarez as Uruguay boss following 15 years in the job has thrown their preparation into disarray, despite the positive results they are getting on the pitch.

Alonso has come in and completely transformed a side which was on the floor following some woeful results in South American qualifying, but he still does not know his best starting XI or best system.

Tabarez was dismissed as manager with qualification in serious doubt after four successive defeats, including a humiliating 4-1 loss in Brazil and a 3-0 defeat away in the notoriously difficult altitude of Bolivia.

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However, with four qualifiers left after the New Year, Alonso came in and won all four, with impressive away wins to Chile and Paraguay being the highlights, and Luis Suarez still at the centre of everything good in the national side.

He is still undecided on which formation best suits his side though, as 4-4-2 and a 4-3-2-1 have both been used often, but are ultimately untested against strong opposition.

The finer details will not matter as long as they keep up this level of performance in attack and defence though, as they have conceded just twice in his nine games in charge.

Getting the best out of their wide array of attacking options will be important, and Suarez, Darwin Nunez, Edinson Cavani and Maxi Gomez have all been among the goals this year, with Uruguay averaging two goals per game.

Alonso has repeatedly stated pre-tournament that they are aiming to be world champions, and on current form they cannot be discounted.