While Uruguay’s victory against Bolivia, marked by a thundering 5-0 scoreline, demonstrates their prowess, Marcelo Bielsa insists they should not rest on their laurels. Despite boasting two consecutive wins at this year’s Copa America, Bielsa remains skeptical about their championship potential.
Facundo Pellistri, Darwin Nunez, Maximiliano Araujo, Federico Valverde, and Rodrigo Bentancur were all on the scoreboard in what turned into a goal fest against Bolivia during their latest Group C clash on Thursday.
This 5-0 victory mirrors Uruguay’s most substantial Copa America win since their 1959 triumph against Argentina with an identical score. Kicking off with a 3-1 win over Panama, this is the first time Uruguay has started a Copa America with two wins since they grabbed the trophy in 199ong>.
A dominating performance featured 18 shots, culminating in an expected goal figure of 2.74, dwarfing Bolivia’s feeble 0.06 from four attempts. Yet, Bielsa believes their true test hasn’t come yet.
“The opposition we’ve overpowered doesn’t rank amongst the heavyweight title contenders,” noted the ex-Leeds manager. “Basing any broad conclusions on these results would be premature and misleading.”
“Scoring victories against teams that aren’t the crème de la crème doesn’t crown us as frontrunners yet; that’s a claim far from being substantiated,” Bielsa added.
Uruguay is now three points clear at the top of their group, thanks to the United States’ 2-1 defeat to Panama. Securing a draw in their final match against the hosts will cement their group leadership.
When questioned about the team’s adaptation to his strategies, Bielsa acknowledged gradual integration. “We’re assimilating our tactical identity match by match. Though we’ve seen segments of play where our rhythm dipped, the evolution is ongoing,” he concluded.
