EAST RUTHERFORD, 28 Jun: Darwin N\u00fa\u00f1ez and his Uruguayan teammates romped through Bolivia\u2019s defense as if it were a training game.
\nN\u00fa\u00f1ez scored in his seventh straight international match, a 5-0 rout on Thursday night that moved Uruguay a to the verge of a Copa America quarterfinal.
\n\u201cThere are still several important steps to take in order to be convinced that Uruguay can reach the level we imagine with the individual talent it has,\u201d Uruguay coach Marcelo Bielsa said. \u201cIt would be incorrect to make conclusions.\u201d
\nFacundo Pellistri put the Uruguayans ahead in the eighth minute and N\u00fa\u00f1ez doubled the lead in the 21st with his 10th goal in his last seven games for Uruguay and 13th in 25 matches overall.
\nMaximiliano Ara\u00fajo scored his second goal of the tournament in the 77th, and Federico Valverde (81st) and Rodrigo Bentancur (89th) added goals in Uruguay\u2019s first five-goal game since beating Panama 5-0 in a June 2022 friendly.
\n\u201cWe have to keep playing with high intensity, a nonstop effort to rout the opponent,\u201d Pellistri said.
\nSeeking its record 16th Copa America title, Uruguay is 2-0 for six points with a plus-seven goal difference and would advance with at least a draw on Monday against the U.S. at Kansas City, Missouri, or perhaps even a loss. The U.S. has three points and plus-one goal difference and Panama three points and minus-one difference.
\nBolivia has lost 14 consecutive Copa America matches dating to 2015 and has one win in its last 32. With no points and a minus-seven goal difference, it has almost no chance of advancing going into Monday\u2019s match against Panama at Orlando, Florida. Bolivia is likely to be eliminated in the group stage for fourth straight time.
\n\u201cThis is the third-youngest team of the tournament,\u201d Bolivia coach Ant\u00f4nio Carlos Zago said. \u201cWe need to trust the process, keep working. Other national teams have gone through this. We have to endure it and let the players grow.\u201d
\nMetLife Stadium\u2019s upper deck was nearly empty and the site of the 2026 World Cup final drew 48,033. Two days earlier, Lionel Messi and Argentina drew a sellout crowd of 81,106 for a 1-0 win over Chile.
\nBolivia made six changes from its opening 2-0 loss to the U.S. and Uruguay quickly went ahead.
\nNicol\u00e1s de la Cruz played a long free kick down a flank and Ronald Ara\u00fajo outjumped Luis Haquin to center a header. Math\u00edas Olivera couldn\u2019t reach it and the ball bounced before Pellistri nodded it in for his second international goal.
\nN\u00fa\u00f1ez, who took seven shots in the first half, scored off a perfect weighed pass from Maximiliano Ara\u00fajo on a quick counterattack.
\nMaximiliano Ara\u00fajo made it 3-0 with third international goal, fed by de la Cruz after Bolivia turned over the ball in midfield. Valverde scored his seventh after exchanging passes with Pellistri and Bentancur headed in Giorgian de Arrascaet\u2019s free kick for his second international goal, three minutes after entering. (AP)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
EAST RUTHERFORD, 28 Jun: Darwin N\u00fa\u00f1ez and his Uruguayan teammates romped through Bolivia\u2019s defense as if it were a training game. N\u00fa\u00f1ez scored in his seventh straight international match, a 5-0 rout on Thursday night that moved Uruguay a to the verge of a Copa America quarterfinal. \u201cThere are still several important steps to take […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-243155","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-sports"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/arunachaltimes.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/243155","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/arunachaltimes.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/arunachaltimes.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/arunachaltimes.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/arunachaltimes.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=243155"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/arunachaltimes.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/243155\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/arunachaltimes.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=243155"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/arunachaltimes.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=243155"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/arunachaltimes.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=243155"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}