Darwin Nunez had an important moment when he took the penalty spot in the match between Uruguay and Colombia. At that time, Uruguay was losing 1-2 and was at risk of suffering a second consecutive defeat at home.
If Nunez fails to score, the pressure will be on coach Marcelo Bielsa, who has decided to drop veteran strikers Luis Suarez and Edinson Cavani. But Nunez confidently took a shot into the top corner and pulled one point away for Uruguay. And that is why the next match against Brazil will be extremely important.
Uruguay and Brazil are of course two of the three teams with the most tradition in South American football. Uruguay's most glorious day in history was a 2-1 victory over Brazil in the World Cup final 50. But in the World Cup qualifiers, the balance is leaning towards Brazil. In 12 matches, Uruguay have lost 6 times and their only victory against their opponent was in 2001.
Brazil is also a concern for Bielsa. When he led his native Argentina in 2001, they beat Brazil 2-1 at home (after losing 1-3 away.) But in the 2010 World Cup qualifiers, Bielsa's Chile lost 0-3 at home to Brazil and 2-4 away. They met again in the round of 16 of the World Cup that year and Brazil continued to win 3-0.
Currently, facing Uruguay, Brazil is certainly still rated higher. Especially since Uruguay is in the early stages of the Bielsa dynasty and needs to be rebuilt.
Against Colombia, Uruguay's playing style was really problematic, especially in the second half. Therefore, Bielsa needs to make some important decisions before the match against Brazil.
Center back Ronald Araujo is in good form and will be a key factor in this match. However, PSG midfielder Manuel Ugarte has strangely declined and as Bielsa admitted, Uruguay is better off with Matias Vecino on the pitch. left-back Joaquin Piquerez could also lose his starting spot to Mathias Olivera.
No matter how personnel are changed, the overall idea will always be kept the same. Bielsa has never changed his approach throughout his career, and he cant do that at the moment. This brings risks but also opportunities because up to now, Brazil under the leadership of Diniz has not had to face the same challenge as Uruguay.
Brazil's schedule in the 2026 World Cup qualifiers cannot be easier. However, Brazil have not performed well in their last 2 matches and have had an unprecedented defensive gap under former coach Tite.
In all of Brazil's home matches in the 2022 World Cup qualifiers, they have only conceded 1 goal. Currently, against two not-so-strength opponents, Bolivia and Venezuela, they have conceded 2 goals.
Basically, Brazil's reaction after losing the ball seems to be having problems and Uruguay has enough Manpower to exploit. Especially Nunez's dynamism and mobility.
Can Uruguay provide enough balls for the strikers by dominating the midfield? In the match against Peru last month, Brazil's midfield played unconvincingly and disjointedly.
At that time, Federico Valverde will be a key player for Uruguay, controlling the match with his diverse passing ability.
The match between Brazil and Uruguay takes place at 7:00 a.m. on October 18 (Vietnam time).
