At 7:00 Beijing time on January 28, the 15th round of the South American region of the World Preliminary Round, Uruguay challenged Paraguay away. In the first half, Suarez and Godin hit the crossbar and Besino missed the opportunity at close range. In the second half, Suarez volleyed in the air, Gustavo Gomez was red in stoppage time, and Uruguay beat the opponent 1-0 to end the four-game losing streak in the World Preliminary Round.
Uruguay have won the World Cup twice, and since 2010, they have reached the World Cup for three consecutive times. According to the latest edition of the FIFA rankings, Uruguay is also ranked 17th in the world, one of the top teams.
However, in this World Preliminary Tournament, Uruguay performed very badly, only 4 wins, 4 draws and 6 losses after the first 14 rounds, ranking 7th in the table with 16 points.
In November, Uruguay suffered a 3-0 away defeat at the feet of Bolivia, and the 74-year-old meritorious veteran Tavares was dismissed.
In mid-December last year, Uruguay announced the 46-year-old Diego Alonso as the new coach, leading the team to the remaining four World Cup qualifiers, with the natural goal of qualifying for the World Cup. The away game against Paraguay was the debut of Diego Alonso.
In the 15th minute, Uruguay won a corner kick, Godin flicked his head inside the penalty area and was saved by the Paraguayan goalkeeper. A minute later, Besino's corner kick was met by Suarez's header in front of goal, which bounced off the crossbar.
In the 25th minute, Valverde's corner was precisely guided, and Godin was found again, who looked back at the moon at the front point, hit the crossbar again and popped up, and Besino's close-in shot was actually confiscated by the opposing goalkeeper.
Seeing this scene, many Uruguayan players collectively helplessly hugged their heads, and coach Diego Alonso was angry on the sidelines. In the 41st minute, Suarez took a direct free-kick into the goal, the ball hit the opponent's arm, and the referee refused to award a penalty.
In the 50th minute, Uruguay won the counter-attack in front of the field, Godin sent a provocative pass, and Suarez won a half-single left-foot volley, finally breaking the deadlock, 1-0!
It was Suarez's 66th goal of his national team, the third most active South American player, behind Messi and Neymar, and the 35-year-old is still a sword. After the goal, Suarez made a muscle-show celebratory gesture, and the whole team surrounded him and reveled.
In the 95th minute, Gustavo Gomez received his second yellow card, and Paraguay lost and lost. In the end, Uruguay won 1-0, struggling to take away three points on the road, ending the embarrassment of 4 consecutive defeats and 5 rounds of winless in the World Preliminary Round, and feeling the taste of victory again after 140 days.
The World Preliminary Rounds table changed again, with Uruguay overtaking Chile, Peru and Colombia in succession to temporarily come to 4th in the table and re-enter the promotion zone.
We Global Football, a well-known forecasting agency, believes that Uruguay has a 46% chance of qualifying for the World Cup, which is higher than the 44% of Portugal, where Cristiano Ronaldo is located.