Uruguay coach Oscar Tabarez cut his 26-man provisional squad down to 23 after La Celeste’s final training session in Montevideo.

The three unlucky players were River Plate midfielder Jorge Rodriguez, Nacional winger Alvaro Gonzalez and striker Jorge Martinez, from Italian club Catania.

Fifteen of the squad are European-based with only one outfield player taken from Uruguay’s domestic league, Penarol midfielder Egidio Arevalo-Rios.

The only other domestically-based squad player is goalkeeper Martin Silva of Defensor Sporting.

La Celeste overcame Israel 4-1 in their final warm-up match before leaving for the South Africa World Cup, veteran striker Sebastien Abreu bagging a brace from the bench.