Ronald Araujo and Uruguay were hammered 5-1 by the USMNT in an international friendly on Tuesday in Tampa, Florida.
The Barcelona center-back was part of a strong team picked by Marcelo Bielsa for the game but went on to suffer a poor defeat that does not bode well ahead of World Cup 2026.
A rampant first-half saw Sebastian Berhalter open the scoring, Alex Freeman bag a brace and Diego Luna also on target as the hosts swept into a 4-0 lead.
The second half wasn’t much better either. Rodrigo Bentancur was sent off for a high tackle on Bentancur, while Tanner Tessmann headed home a fifth goal for the Stars and Stripes to seal a signature win.
Bielsa took responsibility for the defeat after the match and refused to blame this players.
“I don’t feel like I’m making a complaint against anyone,” he told reporters: “What is affected after this performance is my management of the game, the players, and the resources.
“This isn’t a problem with the players; it’s a problem with the use and management of the resources available to the Uruguayan national team. There’s no way Uruguay’s best players can lose a match like this against the second-string United States.
“I reviewed the process that the current coach \[Pochettino\] is implementing, and we knew all the difficulties we would face on the field. What surprised me about the United States? Nothing.
“We prepared a team to play a match, fully aware of the challenges we would face, and yet we didn’t succeed. Furthermore, a significant gap emerged between us. This is a strong argument for serious criticism of the management.”
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