The Davyt family have a foot in two camps

Jorge Davyt, 43, was born in Uruguay but his heart was captured about 1,000 kilometres away, in Paraguay, when he met his wife, Julia. Their daughter, Adriana, 15, was born in Paraguay. Their son, Gonzlalo, 10, in Uruguay. Starting next Friday, the couple, who met 17 years ago, say they will be united in their support of both countries - as long as the two teams do not cross paths in the knock-out stages of the tournament.
"Obviously we are fans of both," Mr Davyt says. "I lived in Paraguay, and my daughter lived there for 13 years, therefore part of my heart is Paraguayan as well. "If you get both together I am going for Uruguay for sure. But I want Paraguay to do well as well." Ms Davyt, 37, meanwhile, is expecting her husband's country to have more success in the tournament. "For sure, Uruguay will do better than us because they have good players, they are a good team," she says.
Mr Davyt, who travels between Dubai and Tehran for his job with British American Tobacco, is one of about 60 Uruguayans living in the UAE. The nation of about 3.3 million has a proud history in World Cups. After winning gold medals in Olympic football in 1924 and 1928, it hosted and won the first World Cup in 1930. Its team were once again crowned champions in 1950 and it is the smallest nation to win the title.
The team are ranked 16th in the world, but missed the 2006 tournament. "We have more history than anything else," Mr Davyt says. "I was born in 1966, and the last time we won as 16 years before I was born, but Uruguay remembers this always." Mr Davyt says that for Uruguay, beating or drawing with France will be key to advancing out of Group A. "If Uruguay don't lose to France, we have a chance," he says. "I think a draw is going to be fine."
Jose Decurnex, 45, who will be at the opening match between France and South Africa in Johannesburg through his company, IBM, says he is hoping that Uruguay can get out of the group and into the knock-out stages, though he expects it to be a challenge in what he calls a "very balanced" tournament. "I think Mexico are strongest by far," he says of Group A. "But it is a very balanced World Cup. You don't have one team that everyone says are the strongest."
[e-mail]