Bielsa evaluates Uruguay’s squad for Copa América without ruling out Suárez and Cavani

The technician of Uruguayan national teamMarcelo Bielsa, said this Monday that he has more certainties than doubts about the list of players called up for the America Cup 2024. The coach did not rule out calling on Luis Suárez and Édinson Cavani, the greatest scorers in the team’s history.

“Today, I have few doubts,” Bielsa said at a press conference about the team that will compete in the continental tournament. The Copa América will be held in the United States from June 20th to July 14th.

“I think that each position requires two players and I always try to have three instead of two and that the difference between the three is not too big,” he explained. For him, this objective “has somehow been achieved”.

The Argentine coach, who has been in charge of Uruguay since last May, said he wants “the best in each position”, although he acknowledged that, “sometimes, the best are not necessarily those who have the most qualities, but rather those who, at the moment of decision, they are in a good phase”.

He also cited a “great difficulty” in choosing players at the end of the club season, “because competing after having played 60 games a year is not the same as competing with preparation time, with rest.”

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Bielsa is attending to the media in the Centennial Conference Room.

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Bielsa considered it “premature” to name names, but insisted that strikers Suárez and Cavani, both 37 years old, are eligible to be called up for the Uruguayan national team.

“The opposite would be for me to say that I’m not going to call up these two players. I’ve never said that and I never will. I watch every match, evaluate and make decisions,” he said. “There isn’t a Suárez and Cavani game that I haven’t watched,” said Bielsa.

Cavani, who currently plays for Boca Juniors, was never called up during the Bielsa era. Suárez, from Inter Miami, was called up for the November games of the South American Qualifiers to the world Cup of 2026.

With less than three months to go until the Copa América, Bielsa’s Uruguay has nothing to celebrate after the FIFA friendlies in March. They drew 1-1 with the Basque Country and lost 2-1 to Ivory Coast, current African champions.