Luis Suárez left out, but ex-Sporting star shines in Colombia win | OneFootball

Luis Suárez did not leave the bench for Colombia in the friendly against New Zealand (2-1). In the early hours of Sunday, November 16, in Florida, United States, the "Cafeteros" featured Santiago Arias in the starting eleven. The former Sporting player provided an assist for the first goal.

The score was opened in the third minute by midfielder Gustavo Puerta. Although winger Ben Old equalized in the 80th minute, the 2-1 was secured by winger Carbonero in the 88th minute. On Wednesday, Colombia will face Australia in New York at 01:00. On that same night, but at 01:30, New Zealand will play against Ecuador in New Jersey.

Coach Néstor Lorenzo took advantage of the friendly match to test new options in preparation for the 2026 World Cup. In the pre-match press conference, the coach had already anticipated the use of players who had fewer minutes in the qualifying phase.

John Córdoba, from Krasnodar, and Rafael Santos Borré, from Internacional, were the offensive references chosen by Néstor Lorenzo throughout the match, instead of Luis Suárez, who has scored four goals in seven matches for the Colombian national team and wants to be part of the competition.

This season, wearing the Sporting jersey, Luis Suárez – valued at 22 million euros – has played 17 matches: 11 in Liga Portugal Betclic, four in the Champions League, one in the Portuguese Cup, and another in the Cândido de Oliveira Super Cup. In the 1,182 minutes he was on the field, the striker scored eight goals and made two assists.

This article was translated into English by Artificial Intelligence. You can read the original version in 🇵🇹 here.