Uruguay arrived in South Florida on Sunday night, less than 24 hours before their opening World Cup match against Saudi Arabia. The team, which held a training session in Cancun on Sunday morning, is scheduled to play Monday night at Hard Rock Stadium in Miami Gardens as part of the Group H opener.
The team's travel from Mexico was severely disrupted due to errors regarding the documentation required for the flight. An initial flight from Cancun to Fort Lauderdale early Sunday afternoon was cancelled, and a subsequent flight was delayed by several hours because the paperwork needed to process the trip was not ready at takeoff. FIFA described the situation as an airline permitting error and stated they worked with airport and operational partners to minimize disruption after the airline apologized.
Coach Marcelo Bielsa and defender Jose Maria Gimenez spoke to reporters at the stadium on Sunday night, following a situation that could have forced the cancellation of their mandatory press conference. Bielsa said the delayed flight caused no problem, while Gimenez described the experience as a difficulty but added that the team was able to take advantage of the time to rest at the hotel.