Uruguay were expected to cruise past Saudi Arabia in their World Cup opener under Marcelo Bielsa, but instead had to settle for a frustrating draw after the underdogs took a shock lead just before half-time. Rodrigo Bentancur found himself at the centre of the controversy, having been beaten in an aerial duel from a corner that directly led to Saudi Arabia’s goal. A late equaliser spared Uruguay’s blushes but could not mask what was a deeply disappointing start to their campaign.
As one of the most prominent figures in both the Tottenham and Uruguay setups, Bentancur was always going to face scrutiny — and the Uruguayan press wasted no time delivering their verdict.
How The Media Rated Him
Montevideo Portal stopped short of assigning a numerical rating but were pointed in their criticism, acknowledging that Bentancur tried to influence the game through his passing and came close to teeing up Matias Vinas for a goal. Nevertheless, they felt he was well below his best and held him directly responsible for being outjumped at the set-piece that led to the opener. They did note some improvement once Federico Valverde moved closer to him in midfield, but concluded he never hit his usual stride.
El Observador were similarly unimpressed, handing him a 5/10. While crediting his involvement in possession and his link-up play with Valverde, they pointed to several concerning moments — including a fortunate escape from a booking after a foul near the penalty area, losing his man at the corner that led to the goal, and a general lack of passing precision even after shifting into a more central role.
El Pais were the most lenient, awarding a 7/10, though they too connected him to Saudi Arabia’s opener, suggesting he was caught out of position following an initial rebound. The newspaper acknowledged that Uruguay missed his influence on the ball while also crediting him with an important recovery run that halted a threatening Saudi counter-attack in the second half.
Do The Statistics Tell A Different Story?
Despite the wave of criticism, the numbers paint a somewhat kinder picture of Bentancur’s afternoon. The Spurs midfielder completed 68 of 80 attempted passes — an accuracy rate of 85 per cent — and created two chances for teammates. He was effective when driving forward with the ball, winning both of his attempted dribbles, and showed well defensively by winning five of six ground duels.
The more damning statistic belonged to Uruguay as a collective rather than Bentancur individually. Bielsa’s side generated 27 shots to Saudi Arabia’s seven and were thoroughly dominant in terms of possession and territory — yet failed to convert that superiority into a winning goal.
Bentancur’s role in conceding the set-piece goal is a fair point of criticism, but the broader verdict on his performance appears somewhat disproportionate to what the data and his general contribution actually reflected. Uruguay’s real issue was clinical finishing, not the performance of their Tottenham midfielder.
