Neither with Liverpool nor Uruguay, Darwin Núnez fails to live up to expectations

In contrast, his partner Edinson Cavani took a different path. He stayed in Europe despite running a race against time for playing time. In order to gain minutes at his club, he asked to be left out of Uruguay's friendlies. And doubts arise in view of the World Cup. It seems that the duo that brought so many joys to the Uruguayans, separates. Since the arrival of Diego Alonso they played only one match together: against Venezuela in the Centenario.

In the middle of the two players from Salta, Darwin Núñez appeared as a figure that pushes forward. Coach Diego Alonso included him in the starting line-up for the friendly against Iran (0-1 defeat in Vienna), but he was assigned a different role, as he played on the left flank. It is clearly a role Darwin is not comfortable in because he plays closer to the box for his team. A clear sign of this was that he constantly hooked for the right flank.

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In any case, he generated danger every time Mathías Olivera broke free in that area. The two had a good understanding. Darwin had a chance to score on the inside when, taking advantage of a mistake in the opponent's exit, he had a shot that the Iranian goalkeeper saved. He then headed the ball down to Suarez, who headed the ball into the net. Darwin helped out in midfield, covering space and creating danger.

In the second half, he remained in the same sector and tried to make some diagonal runs. Playing on the inside, he put a goal ball to De Arrascaeta that the 10 could not take advantage of. And Suárez? He was disconnected in the first half. The ball did not reach him with clarity. The low level of Pellistri also affected him. An aspect that generates doubt is the physical condition of the player from Salta. Despite the fact that he completed the 90 minutes, he was rough in some of his movements. However, his talent is intact as he showed in the first half with a shot where he tried to surprise the goalkeeper and in the second half in an individual action where he shot wide.

Darwin Núñez did not play as a centre forward

Uruguay generated 10 scoring chances throughout the match and the striking thing was the ineffectiveness of their strikers. Luis Suarez's decision to come to play in the local league raises questions. The player from Salta opted to have the necessary rhythm of competition that will allow him to reach the Qatar 2022 World Cup.