It seems Rodrigo Bentancur might be back to his best sooner than we thought, as the Spurs man showcased his impeccable tackling ability for Uruguay against Argentina last night, stopping Lionel Messi in his tracks.
Tottenham fans have been delighted to see Rodrigo Bentancur back in action, just eight months after suffering an ACL injury. In fact, the midfielder wasn’t even expected to be back yet, but he made a swift recovery.
He’s been back on the field for Spurs in the last few games, picking up minutes and gaining match sharpness, and now he’s on international duty with his country, Uruguay.
Bentancur had been desperate to join up with the Uruguay squad despite only just returning from injury, and Marcelo Bielsa has wasted no time in putting him into the team.
LONDON, ENGLAND – OCTOBER 27: Rodgrigo Bentancur of Tottenham Hotspur applauds fans during the Premier League match between Crystal Palace and Tottenham Hotspur at Selhurst Park on October 27, 2023 in London, England. (Photo by Alex Pantling/Getty Images)
In a 2-0 win over World Cup winners Argentina, the 26-year-old came off the bench after 62 minutes, to replace Maximiliano Araújo. And, in the 87th minute, Bentancur timed his tackle to perfection to prevent Lionel Messi from weaving through into the Uruguay box.
From there, his teammates built a swift attack, with a lovely through ball meeting Liverpool’s Darwin Nunez, who applied a cool finish past Emiliano Martinez to seal the win in the World Cup qualifier.
You can see the tackle, and the resulting counter-attack, here:
Rodrigo Bentancur with an important tackle on Messi last night
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Bentancur’s Spurs teammate, Cristian Romero, played the full 90 minutes in this game for Argentina, but leaves with nothing but a yellow card for his troubles.
Spurs Web Opinion
A great tackle from Bentancur, and not an easy one, either. We have all seen how difficult it is to stop Messi when he is on a run like that, so fair play to Lolo for that one. Even better that it leads to a goal for his side, too.
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