Bielsa renews Uruguayan team for game against Cuba

Havana, June 21 (RHC)-- The coach of the Uruguayan national soccer team, Marcelo Bielsa, decided to face Cuba tonight with a renewed team, which includes U-20 world champions.

It will be the second match of the Bielsa era at the Centenario Stadium, and the last of the friendlies agreed by FIFA for both teams.

The Cubans lost against Chile 0-3 in the southern city of Concepción and the sky-blue team defeated Nicaragua 4-1 at the Centenario itself.

Bielsa's squad for tonight's match against the Caribbeans includes 10 changes and therefore a different mentality.

Sergio Rochet, José Luis Rodríguez, Bruno Méndez, Mauricio Lemos, Joaquín Piquerez; Agustín Canobbio, Felipe Carballo, Facundo Torres, Maximiliano Araújo; Diego Rossi and Thiago Borbas will play for the Celeste. Araújo, who plays for Toluca in Mexico, will be the only player who repeats from the previous match.

The Uruguayan bench will include the six available U-20 players: Randall Rodríguez, Sebastián Boselli, Facundo González, Fabricio Díaz, Anderson Duarte and Luciano Rodríguez, champions of the World Cup recently held in Argentina.

After the match against the Cubans, Uruguay will begin preparation for the South American qualifiers for the 2026 World Cup.

In September they will play against Chile at the Centenario and then against Ecuador, at the altitude of Quito.

Pablo Elier Sánchez, coach of the largest of the Antilles, told Prensa Latina that his team will debut in the CONCACAF Gold Cup against Guatemala on June 27.

On July 1 they will play against a Caribbean opponent to be defined and on July 4 they will play against Canada.

Sánchez pointed out that the goal is to advance as far as possible in the tournament.