Maxi left out of Uruguay squad, reason for Sporting winger's absence | OneFootball

Maxi Araújo, winger of Sporting, was left out of the call-up list by Uruguay's manager, Marcelo Bielsa. Despite being a regular presence in the celeste's squad, the Argentine coach made several changes, in order to give game time to less used footballers.

The coach took advantage of the fact that these are two friendly matches and abstained from several important names. In addition to Rui Borges' pupil, Federico Valverde (Real Madrid), Ronald Araújo (Barcelona), Darwin Núñez (Al Hilal) and José María Giménez (Atlético Madrid) were also spared.

Marcelo Bielsa called up 17 footballers who play outside of Uruguay, among them former lion Franco Israel (Torino), in addition to midfielder Rodrigo Zalazar, who scored yesterday in the 1-1 at Alvalade, for Braga, adding 12 more youngsters from the country's U-18 team.

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

This season, with 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 yet scored, but has already made an assist for a goal.

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