Maxi left out of Uruguay squad: why the Sporting winger missed out | OneFootball

Maxi Araújo, winger for Sporting, was left out of the Uruguay squad by coach Marcelo Bielsa. Despite being a regular presence in the national team, the Argentine coach made several changes to give playing time to less utilized players.

The coach took advantage of the fact that these are two friendly matches and left out several important names. Besides Rui Borges' protégé, Federico Valverde (Real Madrid), Ronald Araújo (Barcelona), Darwin Núñez (Al Hilal), and José María Giménez (Atlético Madrid) were also rested.

Marcelo Bielsa called up 17 players who play outside Uruguay, including former Sporting player Franco Israel (Torino), as well as midfielder Rodrigo Zalazar, who scored yesterday in the 1-1 draw at Alvalade for Braga, along with 12 more young players from the country's under-18 team.

Both friendlies, against the Dominican Republic and Uzbekistan, will take place in Malaysia. The national team finished fourth in the qualifiers for the next World Cup, ahead of Brazil, with the same 28 points as the Brazilian team, now led by Italian Carlo Ancelotti.

This season, wearing the Sporting jersey, Maxi Araújo – valued at 17 million euros – has played eight matches. Over the 519 minutes he was used by Rui Borges, the Uruguayan international has not scored yet, but he has already provided an assist for a goal.

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