Uruguay lose to Japan in Forlán debut; Flamengo's Arrascaeta on | OneFootball

Arrascaeta played 28 minutes; Varela stayed on the bench throughout the match in Miyagi, Japan

Uruguay lost 3-1 to Japan this Thursday (24) at Q&A Stadium in Miyagi. The match marked Diego Forlán’s first friendly as head coach of the Uruguayan national team. Flamengo midfielder Arrascaeta came on in the second half. Rubro-Negro full-back Guillermo Varela, meanwhile, remained on the bench.

Coach Diego Forlán started nine of the 11 players who played in the World Cup. Even so, the main surprises in the Celeste lineup were the inclusions of Nahitan Nández and Lucas Torreira.

As a result, both returned to the Uruguayan national team in this match. From the start, Uruguay’s aim was to press the Japanese team high up the pitch. Even so, Japan looked to build from the back and exploit space down the flanks.

HOW WERE THE GOALS SCORED?

Japan opened the scoring with its first clear chance. Keito Nakamura switched play from left to right and found Kuryu Matsuki. The Japanese midfielder then cut inside and hit a low, powerful shot from near the edge of the box. The ball beat goalkeeper Mele to make it 1-0.

In the final 10 minutes of the first half, Uruguay showed improvement. In the 42nd minute, Bentancur won the ball back in the attacking half and played a through ball that deflected off Darwin. The ball fell to Viñas, who hit a low shot from the edge of the area. Hayakawa made the save, but Maximiliano Araújo pounced on the rebound to level the match.

Everything pointed to a draw until the closing minutes. However, Ayase Ueda found Kento Shiogai unmarked in the box. The Japanese forward struck it left-footed across goal to make it 2-1. Three minutes later, the referee reviewed Japan’s second goal on VAR. Right after that, Piquérez lost possession to Takefusa Kubo while the entire Uruguayan defense pushed forward in search of an equalizer. Hiroki Ito passed to Ueda, who rounded Mele and made it 3-1.

HOW MANY MINUTES DID ARRASCAETA PLAY?

Wearing the No. 10 shirt for both Uruguay and Flamengo, Arrascaeta started the match on the bench. However, the midfielder came on in the 68th minute, replacing Federico Viñas. Meanwhile, right-back Varela stayed on the bench.

WHEN DOES URUGUAY PLAY AGAIN?

Uruguay returns to the pitch on Monday (28), when it faces South Korea at 8 a.m. (Brasília time) at Seoul World Cup Stadium. Finally, the Uruguayan national team will play a third friendly against India on October 6. The match will be played at 1 p.m. (Brasília time) at Salt Lake Stadium in Kolkata.

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