Uruguay holds its breath. Last night, La Celeste lost 2-0 to Portugal on the second day of the 2022 World Cup. A very poor result since they had already conceded a draw (0-0) for their entry into the running against to South Korea. With only one small point on the clock, Uruguay is back to the wall and must absolutely win against Ghana (3 points) on Friday or risk falling by the wayside. Luis Suarez’s teammates do not have their destiny completely in their hands since they must also pray that Portugal, already qualified, play the game against South Korea (1 point). Everything is therefore possible.
Fede Valverde disappoints
But the Uruguayans will have to show a much better face, they who have been disappointing overall since the start of the tournament. Moreover, the national sports press is not kind to them after the failure against the Lusitanians. TV channel Telemundo said in this regard: “Uruguay lost 2-0 against Portugal. La Celeste has still not scored a goal and has compromised its chances of reaching the round of 16.. In the country, we are rather pessimistic about the chances of the selection led by Diego Alonso. A team made up of aging executives, such as Diego Godin, Edinson Cavani or Luis Suarez. There are also young talents like Darwin Nuñez or Federico Valverde, from whom we expected a lot.
But most of them disappointed in Qatar, especially Valverde, so brilliant in Madrid and unrecognizable in the national team. Ovacion pointed the finger at him. “Valverde was still far from his best version against Portugal. The midfielder is playing his first World Cup with the Uruguayan team and still hasn’t found the comfort he has at Real Madrid. Yesterday he had a modest game. He was an unrecognized Valverde, uncomfortable and without the necessary freedom he has to go wild in attack.. His coach defended him after the match. “With us, he has done a lot in this position. I think he was unlucky but he is a player with great qualities.
Cavani slips a tackle to the coach
A player who is not the only one to take dearly after yesterday’s setback. The coach has also been criticized for his choices. The system put in place has not necessarily paid off. Ovacion wrote about it: “we must be clear: Uruguay did not lose by staying with the 3-5-2 that Diego Alonso chose, but it would have been very difficult to win playing like that. And even less after checking that it did not work. When the first Portuguese goal came, as the match unfolded, it was very likely that a ball ended up in Rochet’s net.. But it’s not just the press that didn’t understand Diego Alonso’s decisions.
After the defeat, Edinson Cavani, holder yesterday and replaced in the 72nd, sent a tackle to his coach at the microphone of Telemundo. “Ask Alonso. He can talk more tactically about what’s going on. It’s football, sometimes things work out, other times they don’t. This will be the goal of our preparation. Let’s try to correct and improve things (…) It’s a bitter taste to lose. We know we have great potential to do more. It costs us, because losing points in a World Cup is complicated. There are things to improve and we have to prepare for the next game like a final, because we still have the chance to get out of this group stage..
Contested choices, a selection back to the wall
His teammate José Maria Gimenez, he did not like the attitude of the group. “The same thing happened in the first game, we didn’t come out to win. We entered into a little doubt with our game. There remains a feeling of bitterness. We have a great team with great players and we don’t play our real football. It’s a shame, but we have one more ball left and we’ll leave our souls there to qualify for the round of 16.”. A speech that appeals to the coach, who will have no room for error against Ghana. “We have to keep pushing. I tell people to believe it, the World Cup doesn’t stop until it’s over. The next game, we will give everything to be able to qualify. We have to let go and play. We have to encourage ourselves to play more. We have to trust our qualities”.
Especially since not everything is to be thrown away. Rodrigo Betancur was one of the few to stand out yesterday. “In Uruguay, the best was midfielder Rodrigo Bentancur. Warned five minutes after the start of the match, he was responsible for setting up the celestial game without the company of Valverde”clarified Telemundo. There were some interesting things in the second half with the entries of Facundo Pellistri and Giorgian De Arrascaeta according to the Uruguay coach. “The game demanded it. We needed more play. I think the team started playing in the second half as well, they started doing better than they did in the first half.” Uruguay wants to believe in it and won’t give up until the final whistle.
