Maxi Araújo's goal, a Sporting player, did not prevent Uruguay's defeat in front of Japan, a friendly one who dictated Diego Forlán's debut on the celestial bench.
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24/09/2026
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Diego Forlán, the successor of Marcelo Bielsa, signed, at the end of the morning of Thursday, a debut ‘marga’ in the technical command of the main selection of Uruguay, since the particular meeting disputed with Japan, in the Miyagi Stadium, a venue located in the Japanese region of Rifu, culminated in a defeat, by 3-1.
The goal that inaugurated the marker appeared just at the passage of the 11 minutes, when Kuryu Matsuki received a long pass from Keito Nakamura, flinched from the right wing of the attack to the center, made a fine body over Juan Sanabria and, at the entrance of the large area, rehearsed a shallow finish, which only stopped at the bottom of the goal to the guard of Santiago Mele.
The answer came in one of the last bids before the Australian referee Alex King sounded the whistle for the break, through Maxi Araújo, who, contrary to what happened at Sporting, acted in the extreme-left position, and took advantage of an incomplete defense by Tomoki Hayakawa to make the taste on foot.
In the second half, substitutions took place in catadupa from time to time. Of the various players released in the field, the highlight goes to Rodrigo Zalazar, another element of the green and white squad, who entered the place of Brian Rodríguez, at 67 minutes, still unable to have any influence on the result.
Much more decisive was the entry of Kento Shiogai, who yielded Keito Nakamura and ‘undone the knot’, already in the compensation period. Until the final whistle, there was still time for Ayase Ueda make, too, the taste at the foot, and give, once and for all, the ‘final macadada’.
Uruguay now has two more friendly ahead, against South Korea (on Monday, at Seoul World Cup Stadium) and India (on October 6, Tuesday, at Vivekananda Yuba Bharati Krirangan Stadium). Japan, for its part, now turns its attention to fighting Venezuela (on Monday at the Edion Peace Wing Hiroshima).
Problems in sight for Sporting
The already mentioned India-Uruguay is proving to be an authentic ‘headache’ for Sporting, since Maxi Araújo and Rodrigo Zalazar will play almost 9,000 kilometers away, just three days before that which is the ‘poster head’ game of the eighth day of the I Liga, in which the Sporting of Braga is ahead.
The two players will not return to Portugal in time to travel with the remaining green and white entourage to Braga Municipal Stadium. A situation in everything similar to that of Luis Suárez, this time, on account of the particular between Colombia and Peru, on October 7th, Wednesday, at Morumbis, in São Paulo, Brazil.
Rui Borges also lost to the selections Rui Silva, Gonçalo Inácio (Portugal), Flávio Gonçalves, Eduardo Felicíssimo, Rafael Nel (sub-21 de Portugal), Georgios Vagiandis, Fotis Ioannidis (Greece), Zeno Debast (Belgium), Issa Doumbia (Italy), Geny Catamo (Mozambique), Nestory Irankunda (Australia), Iván Fresneda (Spain), Silas Andersen (sub-21 de Denmark) and Jesse Derry (sub-20 de Spain).
However, contrary to what happens to Maxi Araújo, Rodrigo Zalazar and Luis Suárez, none of these cases calls into question the use by the lion coach in the trip to the Quarreira.