Damn it, why can’t England have an excuse this good?
Brazilian officials have revealed they confiscated 40 kg of dulce de leche from Uruguay’s squad as they arrived for the World Cup this month.
The caramel spread is extremely popular in Uruguay and the national squad arrived with 86 lbs of it when they touched down at Confins airport, near their training camp in Sete Lagoas, in Minas Gerais.
However, officials have said the spread needed sanitary documentation to be brought into the country as it was made with milk.
Wendi Dunlap / Via Flickr: litlnemo
An official from the agriculture department told Reuters the Uruguay squad could have their dulche de leche back once the necessary documents were produced.
“Or they can pick it up on their way out of Brazil,” they said.
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Fans and the media have been quick to blame the confiscation on Uruguay’s shock 3-1 defeat to Costa Rica in their opening game of the World Cup on Saturday.
The squad apparently took the spread to the last World Cup, in South Africa, where they reached the semi-finals.
Uruguayan newspaper El Pais reportedly declared: “Uruguay’s 3-1 defeat in its World Cup debut could have another explanation: a lack of dulce de leche after Brazilian health authorities seized a consignment brought by the national team.”
And the Mirror quotes a local press agency as saying: “At times a defeat can be down to non-footballing things. Why not?”
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England take on Uruguay in a crucial Group D game tomorrow.
Roy Hodgson’s men will no doubt be hoping their opponents remain without their favourite spread for a while longer.
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