Recoba fears pro-France conspiracy

Tuesday 4th June 2002

Uruguay midfielder Alvaro Recoba fears there could be a conspiracy against his side when they face France on Thursday. "There are too many interests in the game, and it would not be good for the organisers to have the champions eliminated in the first round," he said.

After France's defeat to Senegal last Friday, and Uruguay's 2-1 reverse against Denmark, a loss for either side in Busan would effectively eliminate them from the competition.

Recoba's fears have been sparked by Brazil's victory over Turkey, in which Brazil were awarded a controversial late penalty and two Turks were sent off.

"I wouldn't like to think there could be a conspiracy against Uruguay, but you never know," he went on.

Despite his suspicions, though, Recoba is confident that Uruguay will put on a better display against France than they did against Denmark on Saturday. "We are going to be very ambitious," he said. "Even a draw would be useless for us, so we will go for it from the start."

Coach Victor Pua could switch his system to a 3-4-1-2 for the game, but with Dario Silva suffering muscular problems Federico Magallanes could come into the starting line-up.

[onefootball.com]