Ahead of England's crucial World Cup group match against Uruguay tonight, we have seven bits of historical trivia about the South American country

THE first proper Uruguayan railway opened in 1878, funded by British money. Its construction was overseen by British railwaymen who formed the Central Uruguay Railway Cricket Club, which also played football – this is how Luis Suarez' ancestors first learned the beautiful game.

The country's full name is the Oriental Republic of Uruguay because it is east of the River Uruguay.

No one knows the derivation of the name "Uruguay", although the most exotic suggestion is that in the Guarani language it means "river of the painted birds".

Spanish explorers had been in Uruguay since 1516, but in 1807, Britain invaded with 10,000 troops. We lasted about a year.

It was the British who effectively created Uruguay in 1828 with the Treaty of Montevideo. Prime Minister George Canning sent the devilishly handsome Lord John Ponsonby to settle the war between Argentina and Brazil which was damaging British trade. Uruguay was created as a buffer between the warring countries, so safeguarding British trade.

It is generally accepted that the PM sent Ponsonby to South America not because he was the best diplomat for this delicate job but because he was so devilishly handsome that King George IV jealously believed he was having too much success with the king's favourite mistress, Lady Conyngham.

Fray Bentos is a town in Uruguay named after Friar Benedict, a reclusive Jesuit priest.

In pre-refridgeration 1863, a German company started a meat processing plant at Friar Benedict's place which enabled South American beef to reach Europe in an edible state.

In 1899, a company called Anglo launched Fray Bentos Corned Beef. A corn is a small, hard particle like a salt grain. Beef that is preserved by being mixed with corns of salt is corned beef.

Fray Bentos Steak and Kidney Puddings – memorably described as the "Austin Allegro of British cuisine" – were introduced in 1963 and were actually made in Hackney. Sales plummeted in 1982 following the Argentinian invasion of the Falklands because, like me, no one knew of their Uruguayan origin.

Uruguay's current president, Jose Mujica, is the poorest world leader. The 79-year-old former guerilla fighter, who was shot six times during Uruguay's various civil wars of the 1960s and 1970s, donates 90 per cent of his £7,500-a-month salary to local charities so that he lives on the average Uruguayan wage of £475-a-month.

He drives a battered VW Beetle and, rather than inhabit the presidential palace, he lives on his wife's chrysanthemum farm with their three-legged dog, Manuela.