While Uruguay’s national team, AKA La Celeste (The Sky Blue) may not be the most famous to global soccer fans, they have more than made their presence known at the World Cup, walloping host Russia on Monday (June 24) to take the top slot in the tournament’s Group A.
Rock music from Uruguay may also sometimes seem like a sleeper next to that of Argentina or Mexico, but as far as World Cup songs go, the one being sung by Uruguayan fans in the stadium is a winner.
“Cielo de un Solo Color,” the gorgeous ballad by leading Uruguayan indie rockers No Te Va Gustar, has long been embraced by both the team and the fans at Uruguay’s games. With everyone singing during the country’s 2018 World Cup matches, if it weren’t for the jerseys, flags and blue afro wigs in the crowd, you would think you were in the stands at a concert rather than a soccer game.
¡Qué momento tan emocionante nos regalaron los hinchas celestes! Sonó “Cielo de un solo color” en el Rostov Arena y todos los uruguayos la cantaron con el pecho inflado de orgullo, ¡vamos Uruguay! #MundialXLaTele pic.twitter.com/lzPPnuUzGz
— Teledoce — (@teledoce) June 20, 2018
Tinged with tango and Afro-Uruguayan rhythms, “Cielo de un Solo Color” (“One-Colored Sky”) from No Te Va Gustar’s 2004 album Aunque Cueste Ver el Sol is a perfect soccer song for a country known for its poets:
hay algo que sigue vivo
nos renueva la ilusión
y en el último suspiro…
ay, celeste regaláme un sol…
(There is something that remains alive
illusion renews us
and in the last sigh…
oh, blue (sky) give me a sun…)
Watch No Te Va Gustar perform it here: