Darwin Nunez started the summer of international football in good goalscoring form at Copa America, but what happened next will be familiar to Liverpool fans.
I arrived at the MetLife Stadium in New Jersey, just in time for the opening minutes of Uruguay’s second group game of the 2024 Copa America, against Bolivia – just in time to see Darwin Nunez miss two chances.
Despite having left Liverpool much earlier that morning, for a moment it was like being back at Anfield.
This game on the east coast of the United States was a 9am kickoff, but also a 2am kickoff for anyone still on British Summer Time, as I was.
But the exciting attacking play of Nunez, missing chances and eventually scoring – always a threat and always entertaining – keeps you alert and interested.
Who knows what will happen next when he is on the pitch?
Later in the tournament, though, the goals dried up and there were some similarities with the way he ended last season at Liverpool.
The levels of entertainment he provides probably depends a lot on whether he is playing for a team you support, and whether or not that team is winning.
This is Uruguay Nunez, same as Liverpool Nunez?
This Uruguay version of Nunez is the same as Liverpool Nunez. Mostly.
One who scored 10 goals in 15 games in all competitions for Liverpool in the middle of last season, but then only scored once in the 13 games following that.
One who scored a hat-trick in a friendly against Mexico in Uruguay’s final Copa America warm-up match and a goal in each of the first two group-stage games against Panama and Bolivia.
However, he didn’t score again for the rest of the tournament.
The difference between Liverpool and Uruguay’s Nunez is that Marcelo Bielsa kept picking him even when the goals dried up.
During Jurgen Klopp‘s final games at Anfield, meanwhile, Nunez sat on the bench for five of the last six league fixtures.
When the games became bigger towards the end of the season for Liverpool and in the quarter-finals, semi-finals and third-place game for Uruguay, Nunez failed to score.
But somehow, despite his misses becoming almost inevitable, he still looked like the most dangerous attacker on the pitch.
This is the conundrum of Nunez, as seen at Liverpool for two seasons since his move from Benfica in 2022 for an initial £64 million.
The trust of Bielsa and Suarez
For Uruguay, the 25-year-old started every game at the Copa America as the striker in Bielsa’s 4-2-3-1 formation, playing 475 of their total 540 minutes of action.
Though he wasn’t scoring, Bielsa stuck with him.
Even in the third-place game that many managers might use to give squad players a chance, Bielsa kept a strong side, and there is a sense he wanted to use all the time available to get his best players used to the system.
Nice moment with Marcelo Bielsa giving Darwin Nuñez a hug after the 3rd place match on Saturday
• Darwin hadn’t scored in Uruguay’s last 4 games and was still having a difficult time due to the post-match incidents vs. Colombia
pic.twitter.com/a4qqACNJXg— Uruguay Football ENG (@UruguayFootENG) July 15, 2024
The manager clearly thinks Nunez is one of his best players. Luis Suarez was in the squad for a swansong tournament but remained on the bench for much of it.
There was a lot of mutual respect between Nunez and Suarez, with the former Liverpool man enthusiastically supporting the current Liverpool man, even though he has taken his place in the side.
Nunez showed the same love for Suarez when the 37-year-old scored in the third-place game against Canada, having been replaced by him at half-time.
Missed chances
In the quarter-final against Brazil, Nunez missed Uruguay’s only big chance of the game.
A cross was swung in from the right and he just had to head it in from six yards, but the ball hit his shoulder and went over the bar.
Against Colombia in the semi-final – which Uruguay went on to lose 1-0 – Nunez had a few chances in the opening half an hour. He did brilliantly to create them through good movement, speed and strength, but sent each of the three shots wide.
Uruguay had been one of the best teams in the group stages but struggled against stronger opposition in the knockout rounds, even failing to comfortably see off a poor Brazil side in the quarters – having to win a penalty shootout to do so.
By the time penalties came around, Nunez had been taken off.
Liverpool’s No. 9 cut a frustrated, angry figure in those moments of missed chances, but a later incident off the pitch was to rile him even further.
WWE Nunez
Bah gawd, it’s Darwin Nunez with a steel chair!
It was like a scene from WWE, only more real and much more serious.
At the end of Uruguay’s semi-final against Colombia in Charlotte, Uruguay players feared for the safety of their families after hearing reports they had been attacked by Colombia fans in the stands.
Nunez was, let’s say, one of the most active players who came to the defence of the friends and families.
The speed and rumbustiousness that he shows on the pitch were on display as he rushed towards the stands.
Once there, standing side-on with fists up, like he was doing a session down Rotunda, he took on the fans.
This footage shows a bit clearer what happened between Darwin Nuñez and the Colombian fans. pic.twitter.com/AHKjDGIj42
— Uruguay Football ENG (@UruguayFootENG) July 11, 2024
After returning to the pitch, he decided he hadn’t finished, and ran towards the stands with a chair, flinging it at the hoardings just below where fans were situated.
It was one of the incidents at this tournament that led to criticism of the security operation. A precursor to the much more serious events at the final in Miami.
“The players were forced to act this way,” said Uruguay manager Bielsa. “The players reacted like any human being would have done.
“If you see your wife, mother, sister or baby being attacked, and no one is helping, what are they supposed to do? And they are going to punish the people who came to defend them?
“Any sanctions should not be for the players but for those who did not prevent this from happening. They had no choice.”
Back to Anfield
Nunez will return to Liverpool this summer with a bronze medal and a new coach to impress, one who has already talked up how he will fit into his system.
“I assume he will fit really well into this [playing style] because I like him,” Arne Slot declared.
“He might have had some struggles with finishing opportunities but he came a lot of times into those positions.”
There is always the enticing possibility that if Nunez can combine that incessant running, the untrackable movement, the uncatchable pace and the unmatchable strength, he will become the best centre-forward in the world.
Even if it doesn’t happen, he will still be useful for Slot’s Liverpool, on and off the ball, possibly playing up front in a similar system to Bielsa’s (don’t call it 4-2-3-1).
But he might need Cody Gakpo and Mo Salah to score the goals.
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