Darwin Nunez Rating: How Uruguay National Media Reacted to the Liverpool Sticker’s Performance After Copa America Exit
Liverpool star Darwin Nunez’s Uruguay was eliminated from Copa America 2024 after a semi-final loss to Colombia.
Marcelo Bielsa’s team, considered favourites along with Argentina, faced a disappointing defeat late Wednesday night.
Colombia opened the scoring with Jefferson Lerma in the 39th minute but was reduced to 10 men just before half-time.
Despite expectations that Uruguay would capitalize and reverse the scoreline, they were unsuccessful. Colombia will now play Argentina in the final.
Nunez will return to Liverpool for pre-season.
Uruguay Media Delivers Verdict on Darwin Nunez’s Performance vs Columbia
Darwin Nunez always sparks debate whenever he plays. The Liverpool striker has immense potential, with all the attributes desired in a centre-forward, yet he can often be quite frustrating.
Nunez matched a nearly 100-year-old record by scoring in Uruguay’s first two Copa America games, but he has failed to score in the last three matches.
In Wednesday night’s match against Colombia, the Liverpool star had two significant chances to score—one with his left foot and one with his right—but he missed both.
The game could have been entirely different if either of his chances had gone in, but now Uruguay is left to speculate on what might have been.
After their elimination, Uruguayan media outlets reviewed Nunez’s performance.
La Diaria wrote: “He had two and he missed them; could’ve been a different story if one of them went in.”
El Observador gave him a 5/10 rating and wrote: “He had the opening and the clearest (chance) at 16 minutes after a huge pass from Federico Valverde. They had taken him by the arm, he hit it with his left and the ball went just outside.
“Five minutes later he showed his power again with another shot, this time, from the right, to the far post. He appeared again at 27′ with a shot that went high. They couldn’t handle him.
“But, in the second half, they overcame him very well and he was unable to break even, falling into a football hole.”
During the 2023/24 season, Nunez faced significant criticism despite his direct involvement in 31 goals across 33 starts in various competitions.
This was largely due to the numerous scoring opportunities he missed nearly every week. Nunez squandered 27 big chances in the Premier League, marking the second-highest number of missed opportunities in the entire league.
In the Copa America, Nunez participated in all five of Uruguay’s matches and took 20 shots on goal, more than any other player in the tournament. However, only two of these shots resulted in goals (Opta Analyst).
Nunez’s primary challenge is his conversion rate, and if he doesn’t improve in the next season, Liverpool may find it difficult to justify keeping him on the team.
The 2024/25 season will be telling as Arne Slot works to help Nunez enhance his performance.
In other Liverpool news, Liverpool Eyeing Move for Champions League Goalkeeper as Possible Replacement for Caoimhin Kelleher
