They’re coming. Olivier Giroud, the chisel-jawed Bamm-Bamm. Antoine Griezmann, the fair-hired sprite with the Fortnite celebration. And, of course, Kylian Mbappe, the teenage phenom whom none other than Arsene Wenger has already compared to a guy named Pele.
Uruguay have conceded a single goal in four World Cup games thus far. And, as they might be keen to point out, Pepe’s header wasn’t in an open play, but in a set-piece situation. France might have their attacking superstars past, present and and future, but Uruguay have their own fearsome foursome.
Two of them, of course, are longtime acolytes of the ultimate spit-and-gravel coach. Diego Godin and Jose Gimenez have blossomed under Atletico Madrid’s Diego Simeone and are the embodiment of “Cholismo,” the hard-to-describe, know-it-when-you-see-it, part world-view, part eternal underdog-dom preached by the Argentine. You can debate whether they’re the best centre-back pairing left in the World Cup, but you can’t debate that playing against them is probably the least fun.
It’s a classic master and apprentice situation. Godin is the big brother who taught little bro how to hunt. Nine years separate the two.
Godin arrived at Atletico in 2010, three seasons before Gimenez, who landed in the Spanish capital when he was just 18, picked up for around a million dollars from Uruguay’s Danubio. Atletico left him in the youth side for a year, but not his national team. When you’re the size of Uruguay, if you’re old enough, you’re good enough. And so Gimenez went to the last World Cup despite the fact that he had played just two professional games for Atletico. And when Diego Lugano got injured, Gimenez stepped straight in, keeping his place in the side until Uruguay’s exit to Colombia in the round of 16.
It’s a synergistic relationship. Godin provides the experience, the reading of the game, the seen-it-all-before coolness. Gimenez is the athletic freak blessed with quickness and an NBA-worthy vertical. He’s the big dog who only wants to be let off his leash.
You’d expect those two to be ready for battle. In the circle of life of Uruguayan defensive hard men, the great ones might only come all along every few years or so. Thus, Paolo Montero mentored Lugano, who mentored Godin, who mentors Gimenez. Actually, it’s circle of steel, more like.