Uruguay vs. Morocco International Friendly Preview, Predictions, Results: Will Edinson Cavani Make Uruguayans Forget Luis Suarez?
Uruguay heads into the Copa America this summer as the defending Champion. But the South American nations faces a tough task as it will enter the competition without its all-time leading goalscorer in Luis Suarez.
Everyone knows what Suarez is capable of and also what has kept him out of the tournament. But what no one knows is what this current Uruguay side is capable of without the superstar. The team will start to get an idea in its upcoming friendly against Morocco on Saturday.
It will be a tough task to be sure. With Suarez, Uruguay had 43 goals since 2007. Without him, the current squad has amassed 60. Of those goals, 24 have come from Paris Saint-Germain star Edinson Cavani who will be asked to step up in a big way.
The 28-year-old last scored for Uruguay on Nov. 13, 2014, in a friendly against Costa Rica. The good thing for Uruguay is that 10 of his 24 strikes have come in the last two years. He is currently enjoying a decent season with PSG as he has 15 goals in 28 matches. However, it is a far cry from the 25 goals he scored in 43 matches a year ago. And those numbers are nowhere near the three-straight 30-plus goal seasons Cavani had as a member of Napoli.
Cavani will have to be the man of the moment in Chile if this side has any hopes of a deep run.
The rest of this squad is a mix of veterans and youngsters with the remaining four forwards combining for 45 appearances; Cavani has 70.
Other prominent players in the Uruguay squad include Fernando Muslera, Maxi Pereira, Diego Godin, Jose Gimenez, Nicolas Lodeiro, Egidio Arevalo Rios and Alvaro Gonzalez.
In other news, this is the first game between these nations since 1964, when they met in an international friendly that Uruguay won 1-0.
Predictions
Uruguay wins 1-0.
Where to Watch
The game will not be televised in the U.S., but live stream information can be found here. Official live scores for the game can be seen here.
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