La Celeste, the only team yet to score despite Luis Suárez, Cavani and Darwin Núñez, will face a Ghana this Friday looking to complete South Africa’s revenge and seal their pass to the second round
Duel to the death that will measure this Friday at the Al Janoub Stadium, located in the picturesque coastal area south of Doha, against Uruguay, the only one of the 32 teams present at the World Cup in Qatar that has not yet scored a goal, with Ghana , which wants to seal its ticket to the eighth finals and, incidentally, wants to take full revenge after twelve years. La Celeste appear on the last day of the group stage as the bottom team with only one point, equal to South Korea but with a worse goal difference. However, the Africans add three points and face the Portugal of the eternal Cristiano Ronaldo, already classified with two victories.
After losing to Portugal (2-0) on Monday, the Charrúas locked themselves in their bunker to do group therapy and try to regain that offensive power that had been shown since Diego Alonso replaced Óscar Tabárez at the end of 2021 and made him their last could win the match. four games in the South American qualifying rounds and qualifies for the World Cup the day before. He promised a lot with Liverpool striker Darwin Núñez and De Arrascaeta, a Flamengo star who was crowned in the Copa Libertadores, along with old rockers like Edinson Cavani and Luis Suárez, but his performance is far from expected. They don’t excel offensively and Madridista Fede Valverde and Betancur don’t lead in midfield either.
“The same thing happened in the first game. We didn’t go out to win,” defender Josema Giménez said openly after losing to Portugal. “There is a sense of bitterness because we have a great team and great players, but we contribute to the football that we really have,” said the Atlético defender, present at his third World Cup at the age of 27. The coach, on the other hand, understands that the solution is for the Uruguayans to loosen up on the field. “The speculation is over. What we have to do now is to face the last game as a final ”, for his part, the Pistolero Suárez settled.
In the group led in attack by the lion Iñaki Williams, from whom much more was expected in this World Cup, the comparison is simple. It’s about beating La Celeste or at least drawing, qualifying, taking Uruguay out of the World Cup and removing an old thorn that still hurts. On July 2, 2010, in a quarter-final full of drama and emotion, Celeste defeated Ghana on penalties at Soccer City in Johannesburg and reached that semi-final in Cape Town where they lost (3-2) to the Netherlands, beaten in turn by Spain in the big final.
The ‘black stars’ managed to win in the last minute of extra time after a penalty from Luis Suárez, who dodged the goal with his hand and was sent off, but Asamoah Gyan fired the penalty against the crossbar. The process went to penalties and there Loco Abreu scored the decisive Panenka style to unleash the madness in Uruguay and depress the Ghanaians. “Everyone felt bad then, but all I’m thinking about now is qualifying for the second round,” emphasizes André Ayew, the only survivor of that generation in Qatar.
Source: La Verdad
I am Shawn Partain, a journalist and content creator working for the Today Times Live. I specialize in sports journalism, writing articles that cover major sporting events and news stories. With a passion for storytelling and an eye for detail, I strive to be accurate and insightful in my work.
