Lionel Messi and Luis Suarez, two former Barcelona colleagues, will have a unique reunion in the South American World Cup qualifying encounter. The Gremio striker recently talked about their reunion, even though they are no longer coworkers in Catalan.
“We talked, he was very happy. Leo asked me many times about the choice of whether to retire from the national team or continue playing. Now, I am very happy to return to the team. , even facing Messi again is a special feeling.” – Suarez shared on the official information channel of the Uruguayan Football Federation.
The summit reunion with Messi, Luis Suarez officially spoke up 356185
Messi and Suarez will reunite but will no longer be on the same front line. Source: Getty
Although he is no longer at his peak, the former Barcelona and Liverpool striker still wants to contribute to the Uruguayan team.
“Like the previous call-ups, I always have mixed feelings. Months have passed, my love for the Uruguayan team is still the same. It’s the feeling of playing under the cheers of the fans. members, enjoy the match and fight with your teammates.”
Of course, when Suarez is no longer playing on the team, the player nicknamed El Pistolero also has a worthy replacement in Darwin Nunez.
“I spoke to Darwin in Qatar before, he has great potential and is playing very well. As a teammate, I’m not surprised. Last year, Darwin had a bad time at Liverpool But no problem, everything will be fine.”
Messi failed, Argentina wasempty-handed
Argentina had gone 13 games without a loss after losing 1-2 to Saudi Arabia in the opening group stage encounter of the 2022 World Cup Finals. Prior to the Uruguay encounter, Argentina’s defense performed so well that they allowed no goals to be scored in the previous eight games. Argentina’s success in winning the 2022 World Cup and leading the South American 2026 World Cup qualifiers after four games with a winning record was largely due to their efficacy.
Uruguay, though, shown that they are a formidable foe. Uruguay is quite confident that they can pull off a surprise when they play Argentina because they defeated Brazil 2-0 in the previous encounter.
Argentina suffered its first loss in the 2026 World Cup qualifiers for South America due to Messi’s dismal performance. Picture: SPORT
Argentina, who had home field advantage, also fielded the best team, led by superstar Lionel Messi and featuring excellent satellite players like MacAllister, Alvarez, Gonzalez, and Fernandez. Nenez plays as a striker for Uruguay while the seasoned Luis Suarez is on the sidelines.
Argentina seized the lead by having more ball control in the first half. Uruguay prioritizes defense and doesn’t think twice about playing aggressively when called upon. Argentina found it challenging to get to the opponent’s goal because of the close play that Uruguayan players and captain Valverde produced. Messi attempted to make an impact with long shots and free kicks, but he was unsuccessful.
Surprisingly, Uruguay took the lead in the 41st minute. The assist from Matias Vina allowed Ronaldo Araujo to finish smoothly past goalkeeper Martinez and give the visiting team the lead.
Uruguay concentrated primarily on defense in the second half, while Argentina elevated the team to attack. The game’s circumstances remained same. Messi is still firmly blocked and needs to search for openings in defined situations, but he is not successful.
Argentina was attacking in a standoff, but they were unable to equalize and needed a “recovery” blow in the 87th minute. After Messi lost possession of the ball, Uruguay immediately counterattacked, and Nunez demonstrated his ability to pick up speed before finishing expertly to double the lead.
Argentina could not turn the tide of the match in the few minutes that remained. Argentina is still in first place after five games with 12 points, despite their final result of 0–2. However, they are just two points ahead of Uruguay in second place.