Club football comes to a halt once again and players who are summoned leave to join their respective nations – yes, it is the time of the International Break. At the Stadio Olimpico, 11 Lazio players were called by their countries and traveled away from Rome over the course of the past week. One of the eleven players is Martin Caceres – the 31-year-old Uruguayan International defender. Unable to work his way into the biancocelesti starting XI, for Uruguay, he is like a rock – a core component of Oscar Tabares’ team, as he is always providing support at both ends of the pitch.
For La Celeste’s first task, they were scheduled to play a friendly at the Emirates Stadium in London, England, against old-time South American rivals Brazil; a side featuring Neymar, Firmino, Douglas Costa, and Alisson, but missing Coutinho, Marcelo, and Casemiro due to injury. Although just one match scored in this match, a match between these two sides never fails to live up to the hype, and the fans were treated to some brilliant football.
Employed by Tabares for the full duration of the match, Caceres played an unexpected an unusual role, at least for Laziali and Uruguay. In a 4-3-3- formation, he played in the left-center back position of a back four defense next to 19-year-old Bruno Mendez of Wanderers. Situated on the flanks, the manager decided to use Matias Suarez of Belgrano on the right, and Milan’s Diego Laxalt on the left. A physical match, Uruguay picked up 6 yellow cards – Caceres receiving one of them. The Brazilians had 63 percent of the ball, so Caceres and his back line had to remain focused all night. However, in the 76′, they managed to find a breakthrough from the penalty spot. Laxalt had seemed to have knocked down Neymar from 11 yards out, a yellow card was shown, and the Brazilian converted the spot kick to score the first and only goal of the match,. A 1-0 final that overall reflects a match that was generally balanced, with multiple scoring chances on both ends.
The next meeting for Uruguay and Caceres will be on Tuesday, November 20th, against World Cup champions France.
