Uruguay squad lands in US after flight delay ahead of World Cup opener

Uruguay will reportedly arrive in the US less than 24 hours before the kickoff time for their game against Saudi Arabia.Uruguay’s national team have arrived in Miami after enduring a travel ordeal ahead of their opening World Cup match in the United States.The squad and support staff landed in Miami on Sunday, less than 24 hours before kickoff in their Group H match against Saudi Arabia.Recommended Stories list of 4 itemslist 1 of 4Germany hit Curacao for seven to open their World Cuplist 2 of 4Yamal, Williams fit to start on the bench for Spain against Cape Verdelist 3 of 4Japan deny Netherlands by fighting back twice in World Cup openerlist 4 of 4World Cup nations slam UEFA chief for ‘disappointing’ 48-team criticismend of listUruguay pinned the blame for their troubles flying from Mexico to the US on FIFA. They also reportedly faced the threat of sanction if their head coach and captain could not make it to a mandatory news conference on the eve of the match.The original flight was reportedly not allowed to depart due to administrative issues, including some missing paperwork, and officials had to scramble to line up a new flight.FIFA is in charge of all travel related to the 48-team World Cup.Uruguay are training in Playa del Carmen, Mexico, and held a practice there on Sunday. When the traveling delegation reached the airport in Cancun, approximately 72km (45 miles) away, they learned that the group was not authorised to enter the US.The Uruguay-football-association" class="entity-link entity-organization" data-entity-id="146486" data-entity-type="organization">Uruguay Football Association (AUF) said that a second plane from South Florida was en route to pick up the squad, while the players waited at a resort outside Cancun until its arrival.“Due to problems beyond the control of the AUF, the departure from Mexico has been delayed,” the association said in a statement. “The squad is resting at the hotel. The new departure time set by FIFA is 4:15pm [21:15 GMT].”FIFA later released a statement, saying: “Due to an airline permitting error in Mexico, the Uruguay national team’s departure from Cancun to Miami was delayed.