Rocha is a small club from the town of the same name, some 210 kilometers east of Uruguayan capital Montevideo. It was the surprise winner of the Uruguayan league's 2005 Opening Tournament, boasting a young team without celebrity players. With a comparatively small budget of some 15,000 U.S. dollars a month, the sky-blue team has left its squad basically unchanged in 2006.

Jesus Ramos, president of the club, described playing in the Cup as"a dream come true... an honor and also a great responsibility, to represent Uruguay at the international level."

Pedro Cardozo, the most famous player in the Rocha squad, has recovered from a knee operation and is now in perfect health. The only person to leave the winning team is Mauro Aldave, who made animpressive debut in 2005, and is promptly snapped up by an Italianleague team. Marcelo Segales will play in his place.

Rocha will play their first Libertadores game in 20,000-seater Maldonaldo Campus Stadium, in Maldonaldo, a city 140 kilometers east of Montevideo, because their home stadium is not large enough to host international matches.

Group five also includes Argentina's Velez Sarsfield and Ecuador's Liga Deportiva Universitaria, both major teams in their countries. Enditem