Fede Valverde vs Panama: 85 minutes played. 1 big chance created. 2 key passes. 85% passing accuracy. 7/10 long balls completed. 100% ground duels won. 100% aerial duels won.
After Uruguay’s Copa América Group C victory over Panama on Sunday, midfielder Federico Valverd made a blunt confession. The Real Madrid player, along with Maximiliano Araújo and Darwin Núñez, strolled through the mixed zone shortly after the match.
The heavenly team won 3-1 with goals from Araújo, Núñez, and Matías Viña.
Coach Marcelo Bielsa presented Valverde with the captain’s ribbon for his Cup debut.
“We had discussed being patient; there are times when goals come easily, and times when they do not; today was difficult for us, particularly in the first half. “That perseverance, that pride in continuing to try, we were able to get it out,” Valverde told DSports after the game.
“The opponent played, and there was frustration; it was a mix of both. The opponent became considerably more comfortable with the ball in the second half, making it much more difficult for us to apply pressure on their players,” he remarked, before admitting, crudely: “When you generate so many chances and don’t score, the fact is that it affects you.”
Maxi Araújo scored multiple goals on Saturday, including Sunday’s.
Maximiliano Araújo, the first goal scorer, stated, “We wanted to confess like this, luckily we were able to win. There are many things to correct, and it is better to correct by winning.” We started really well by pushing extremely hard up, but then we dropped the intensity at times. These are the areas where we need to improve.”
“Panama is a good team, with very good players, at the moment they showed it, but luckily we were able to win,” according to him.
Araújo shared that he scored comparable goals in practice on Saturday and joked with his teammates about saving them for Sunday’s game. “They cheated me yesterday because we played a two-touch and they went there (the balls, angle) and instructed me to preserve them for today, and he was lucky to go in.
