Manchester United midfielder Manuel Ugarte had an eventful night in Uruguay’s draw with England.
England and Uruguay played out a 1-1 draw at Wembley, and there were four Manchester United players involved.
Harry Maguire started the game, with Kobbie Mainoo coming off the bench for England. Loanee Marcus Rashford also started.
Manuel Ugarte lined up for Uruguay, and played his role in frustrating England with a typically combative performance in a match low on attacking quality.
England v Uruguay - International Friendly
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Manuel Ugarte avoids red card
Manuel Ugarte was shown a yellow card in the first half. And he was then shown another yellow card for dissent following Ben White’s opener for England.
The referee did not send him off, however, with the second yellow later rescinded.
ITV pundit Ian Wright blasted: “They are making it up as they go along.”
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Uruguayan press rate Manuel Ugarte display
Uruguayan newspaper El Observador rated Manuel Ugarte’s performance, and graded him a disappointing 4/10.
They wrote: “Troubled in midfield. He lacked support from his teammates and was largely uninvolved in the game.”
More generally, the outlet noted that Uruguay were “outpaced and outmatched by England, although the defensive unit performed very well”.
The country’s El Pais newspaper gave Ugarte a rating of 5/10, writing: “The midfielder positioned himself in the defensive sector with the difficult task of providing balance to his side.
“He covered a lot of ground and showed great effort, but lacked his usual effectiveness in duels and passing.”
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Manuel Ugarte playing against Fulham
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Ugarte’s bad luck continues
Ugarte was eventually substituted in the 87th minute. England were 1-0 up at the time. After he went off, his side were able to claim a 1-1 draw.
Coincidence? Possibly. But these types of coincidences have been following Ugarte around all season at Manchester United.
United are plainly a better team when Casemiro is on the pitch rather than Ugarte, and the difference between the two has seen United concede goals more frequently when the Uruguayan was on the pitch.
At least he was able to get some more game time, playing almost the entire game – despite the red card incident.
He will hope for more minutes in Uruguay’s second friendly, against Algeria.
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