Tottenham Hotspur star Rodrigo Bentancur made his long-awaited return to Uruguay’s national team last night in their win over Argentina.
Marcelo Bielsa‘s side stunned Lionel Messi and the world champions with a fantastic performance at La Bombonera. Ronald Araujo and Darwin Nunez‘s goals gave them the win, and Bentancur’s return was the icing on the cake.
Uruguayan media react to Tottenham star Rodrigo Bentancur’s performance vs Argentina
Tottenham star Rodrigo Bentancur has had a really difficult year, hasn’t he?
The Uruguay international suffered a serious knee injury in February during Spurs’ 4-1 defeat at the hands of Leicester City in the Premier League. He had to undergo ACL surgery, and that kept him out of action for over eight months.
Bentancur returned as a substitute for the final minute in Tottenham’s 2-1 win over Crystal Palace at the end of last month. He received a hero’s welcome from Spurs fans, which was great to watch.
After two more substitute appearances for Spurs, Marcelo Bielsa called him up to the Uruguay national squad for the games against Argentina and Bolivia.
He came on as a substitute in the second half for Uruguay last night and played well against the world champions. He was involved in the build-up to Nunez’s goal that sealed the game.
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Uruguay’s El Observador gave Bentancur a 7/10 rating and wrote: “Came on in the 60th minute for the injured Maxi Araujo. He returned to play for the national team after 11 months, after a serious injury that took him off the field for eight months.
“He stood in the line of four midfielders that the coach placed behind Darwin Núñez. He recovered the ball that generated the counterattack that ended in Uruguay’s second goal.”
Bentancur’s return is a huge boost for Tottenham
Tottenham have had a fantastic season so far, despite the two defeats just before the international break this month.
Ange Postecoglou has mostly used a midfield trio of Pape Matar Sarr, James Maddison and Yves Bissouma, and all three of them have been excellent.
With Maddison now injured until the end of the year, there is a chance Bentancur could replace him in the middle of the park. Tottenham are much stronger when the Uruguayan plays, and his return is a massive boost ahead of the busy festive period.
It will be interesting to see if Bentancur will be given a start in Tottenham’s next Premier League game, which is a tricky clash against Unai Emery’s Aston Villa.