November 14, 2024, 18:32 PM
November 14, 2024, 18:32 PM
The Uruguayan team will seek this Friday to regain its smile and return to victory in the South American qualifiers, which on the eleventh round will put it face to face with a Colombia that will arrive at the Montevideo Centennial ready to give it a new blow.
After a full start that included wins against Argentina and Brazil, La Celeste not only failed to win any of its last four games, but also failed to score goals.
And in the middle of that, a statement by Luis Suárez accusing the Argentine Marcelo Bielsa of having bad manners with footballers ignited a problem that seems to have been left behind, according to the celestial players themselves.
“Everyday life is very nice here. The relationship we have between teammates is very good. With the coach too,” Manchester United midfielder Manuel Ugarte said in a press conference.
In this way, Uruguay will seek to change its path and return to victory in a game in which it will face a team that in recent times has become accustomed to hitting it.
In addition to eliminating them from the 2014 World Cup in Brazil, Colombia fired the Celeste in the quarterfinals of the 2021 Copa América and, in July of this year, won the semifinal of the continental tournament played in the United States, in a tense match that It ended with a fight in the stands between Uruguayan players and Colombian fans who had rebuked the footballers’ relatives.
With that background and a great present, Argentine Néstor Lorenzo’s team will seek to climb another step and win in the qualifying rounds in Montevideo, something they last achieved in July 1973.
Called up again after serving a long suspension, Rodrigo Bentancur is shaping up to be one of the starters in the local midfield.
There he will accompany Federico Valverde in a line of three that could be completed by Manuel Ugarte or Brian Rodríguez, while in attack it is a fact that Facundo Pellistri, Darwin Núñez and Maximiliano Araújo will be there.
On the other side, the historic James Rodríguez, who has not had the prominence he expected at Rayo Vallecano, will lead a team that will have the fast Jhon Arias and Luis Díaz on the wingers and Jhon Jader Durán in the attack.
The Aston Villa forward is one of the team’s figures in a season in which he has already scored eight goals, two of these in the UEFA Champions League.
In this way, Uruguay and Colombia will once again come face to face with the memory of what happened in the last Copa América and in the middle of qualifying rounds in which both are heading towards a new World Cup.
– Probable alignments:
Uruguay: Sergio Rochet; Nahitan Nández, José María Giménez, Mathías Olivera, Marcelo Saracchi; Federico Valverde, Rodrigo Bentancur, Brian Rodríguez or Manuel Ugarte; Facundo Pellistri, Darwin Núñez and Maximiliano Araújo. Coach: Marcelo Bielsa.
Colombia: Camilo Vargas; Daniel Muñoz, Davinson Sanchez, Jhon Lucumí, Johan Mojica; Richard Ríos, Mateus Uribe; Jhon Arias, James Rodríguez, Luis Díaz and Jhon Jader Durán. DT: Néstor Lorenzo.
Referee: Peruvian Kevin Ortega.
