12 years on, Maxi Araújo makes history for Sporting | OneFootball

Maxi Araújo’s goal in Uruguay’s 1-1 draw against Saudi Arabia, in the South Americans’ World Cup debut, had special significance for Sporting. Besides avoiding a Uruguayan defeat, the Sporting winger’s precise strike put an end to a green-and-white goal drought at World Cups that had already lasted 12 years.

. At the time, Islam Slimani scored twice for Algeria, against South Korea and Russia, while Marcos Rojo also celebrated for Argentina, against Nigeria.

Since then, two editions of the tournament had passed without a Sporting player finding the net, until Maxi Araújo appeared on Monday night. The Uruguayan international was the key figure in his national team’s comeback and was ultimately rewarded with a goal that earned a point against the Saudis.

Even before Slimani and Rojo, four years earlier, in 2010, Liedson left his mark. The naturalized Portuguese forward scored in Portugal’s win over North Korea, in the memorable 7-0 thrashing. Back in 2002, Beto made history by scoring for Portugal in the defeat against the United States.

Further back in time comes Héctor Yazalde. The legendary Argentine Sporting striker scored twice for Argentina in the match against Haiti at the 1974 World Cup, becoming the first Sporting player to celebrate a goal in the biggest international tournament.

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