Uruguay lost to Portugal at the World Cup on Monday and Darwin Nunez struggled. The national media didn’t like what they saw.
Darwin Nunez saw Uruguay lose 2-0 to Portugal on Monday. It was a bitterly disappointing result for the two-time champions as they never really got into the game.
They’re now bottom of their group on one point and must beat Ghana on matchday three. Even that might not be enough if South Korea beat Portugal.
Nunez himself didn’t have a great game here, either. After playing mostly on the left in their opener, the Liverpool forward moved centrally this time in a 4-4-2. His strike partner was Edinson Cavani as Luis Suárez went to the bench.
But it didn’t work. Nunez was barely involved and honestly, the 4-4-2 just didn’t look right for Uruguay.
Their national media were critical of Nunez, too. In particular, they pointed out his struggles against 39-year-old Pepe, who had a fairly easy game up against the much younger forward.
El Pais gave Nunez a 5 out of 10 and said he only really threatened to show his pace once throughout. They mention how Pep ‘won all the balls’ in their battle.
Futbol.com.uy don’t score Nunez but talk about how he ‘struggled’. They’re the other outlet to mention Pepe, pointing to how he also ‘neutralised’ him in matches between Porto and Benfica last season.
ESPN Uruguay gives Nunez a 4 out of 10. ‘The ball did not reach him’, they say, while mentioning a corner that he won as the only real attacking output.
Darwin Nunez struggles against Portugal at the World Cup
Massively disappointing for Nunez, then, who simply didn’t give a good account of himself here. A large part of that was Uruguay as a whole being subpar compared to Portugal, though.
But it still doesn’t excuse him from struggling against Pepe. You’d like to think, as a Liverpool fan, that Nunez would roast him all game long. Instead, he couldn’t get the best of the 39-year-old.
Matchday 3 against Ghana will be a massive one – let’s see if Nunez can use it to make a name for himself at this World Cup.
Receive a digest of our best Liverpool content each week direct to your mailbox
