Darwin Nunez was once again the star of the show in a huge night for Uruguay yesterday.
Nunez has been in terrific form for club and country, heading into last night’s clash with Brazil brimming with confidence.
And according to Uruguayan paper El Observador, that showed, completely. The Liverpool striker reportedly cut a ‘determined’ figure as he took on the role of match-winner for his country.
‘Scorer of a great goal’ in the first-half – a lovely, stooping header – Darwin is said to have come out at ‘high speed’ for the second, before producing the game’s outstanding moment.
Taking the ball on the bounce virtually on the touchline by the six-yard box, Nunez somehow spun between three Brazil players to lay on a lovely assist for Nicolas De La Cruz.
El Obersvador call it a ‘shocking’ piece of play, and it really was something. Watching it back, you can see that Nunez’s flick to deceive all of Casemiro, Marquinhos and Gabriel was very deliberate, though. Outrageous.
His superb all-round display earned him an 8/10 from his national press, and gave Uruguay their first win over their hated neighbours for 22 years.
Nunez continues great form
If Nunez was in confident form already, then this should really kick him up another notch now.
For Uruguay, this is the game they really want to win. Having had a dismal run against Brazil for such a long time, Tuesday’s victory will have been celebrated into the night.
And right at the centre of it all was Liverpool’s No.9
After such a polarising start to his Reds career last year, it really is a delight to see Darwin now making so many people eat their words.
It’s still early days of course, and the season has a long way to run yet. But you get the feeling that the former Benfica man is potentially about to have a really memorable campaign.
After being handed Uruguay’s No.9 shirt by the legendary Luis Suarez, it could have gone one of two ways for Nunez. Either he stepped into Suarez’s enormous boots, or he failed to live up to his predecessor completely.
Thankfully, it looks like the former has happened. Watch out Everton, there’s a panther on the loose.
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