No secrets, Darwin Nunez reveals in Uruguay his strategy to succeed at Liverpool

Uruguay ended up salvaging a draw in their third qualifier on Thursday, drawing 2-2 away to Colombia late on. Darwin Nunez equalised against Colombia in Barranquilla.  Darwin Nunez's goal in Uruguay's draw against Colombia on the third matchday of the South American qualifiers broke a personal streak without scoring in official matches for Uruguay. The Liverpool striker's stoppage-time penalty was his first in almost three years in games "for the points" with Uruguay. The curious thing is that the last one had been on 13 November 2020 against the same opponent and in the same stadium: on that occasion, in the qualifiers for Qatar 2022, Uruguay won 3-0 and Nunez scored the third with a shot from outside the box.

Between that and the one he scored on Thursday night, Nunez had been able to score one more goal with the Uruguayan national team and that was in the 2-0 friendly win against Canada on 27 September 2022. In that match, played in Bratislava, Slovakia, he found the net with a powerful header after a precise cross from Luis Suarez. In total, Darwin Núñez reached his fourth goal in a Uruguay shirt - the other he scored was in a friendly against Peru in October 2019, the first he was able to celebrate with Uruguay.

Darwin Nunez, striker for the Uruguay national team, revealed the strategy he devised with Nicolás de la Cruz to avoid the pressure from Colombia's players in the moments before the penalty kick at the end of the match in Barranquilla. The home team was leading 2-1, but in stoppage time the VAR confirmed the infraction inside the area and double yellow card for goalkeeper Camilo Vargas on Maximiliano Araújo, which gave Uruguay a great opportunity to reach a draw in the third date of the South American qualifiers for the 2026 World Cup.

The strategy

And as substitute goalkeeper Alvaro Montero prepared to enter the field, Uruguayan players Giorgian De Arrascaeta and Nicolas de la Cruz, the latter with ball in hand, were talking about the penalty spot. Nunez, who conspicuously was not inside the area to shoot, did approach when Chilean referee Piero Maza announced the spot kick. "I told Nico to grab the ball because they were probably coming to talk and try to break his concentration; it was a strategy," said Núñez later at a press conference. The Liverpool striker commented on his goal and the draw: "I am very happy with the team's commitment, it was essential to get a point in Colombia, on a very difficult field and against a very difficult opponent". "The striker always wants to score goals, but the important thing is that I always try to help the team," said the number 9, who has four goals to his name. It is worth remembering that this same strategy was used with Liverpool in the penalty that Mohamed Salah ended up winning against Brighton.