Emiliano Martínez and Piquerez’s participation in the World Cup came to an end, making them the first Palmeiras athletes to be eliminated from the tournament. Uruguay suffered a 1-0 defeat to Spain last Friday night, guaranteeing third place in Group H and, consequently, exclusion from the knockout stage.
The Uruguayan team’s performance in the group stage was considered a disaster. In addition to the defeat against the Spanish team, Celeste was unable to beat Saudi Arabia and Cape Verde, considered lesser opponents, resulting in an early dismissal from the championship, repeating a scenario from the previous edition.
In the midst of this troubled environment, the national team’s locker room saw a major rupture. Reports in the Uruguayan press indicate that the relationship between the players and coach Marcelo Bielsa deteriorated, culminating in a movement of insubordination shortly before the last match of the group stage.
Despite the intense crisis, Martínez and Piquerez were not identified as central figures in the internal conflict. However, they experienced the situation up close and ended up being disregarded by Bielsa. Neither of them took the field in this World Cup, which marked their debut in a competition of this size.
The situation was even more challenging for Piquerez. He had suffered a ligament injury to his ankle in March, during the last FIFA Date before the World Cup, and it took a lot of effort to recover from the surgery in time to join the team in the national team competition.
To try to speed up his recovery and guarantee a place among the starters, the full-back was released by Palmeiras to present himself before the usual period. However, the plan did not materialize: Viña was chosen to start the match against Saudi Arabia, while Sanabria played in the next two matches.
After the elimination, Piquerez and Martínez are able to return to activities at Palmeiras. The expectation is that the duo will receive an extended period of time off before their reappearance, the exact date of which has not yet been determined.
A similar case occurred with Giay, who was with the Argentine delegation during part of the group stage of the World Cup, following an invitation from the local federation. He was also given a few days’ holiday before rejoining the club and is expected at the Football Academy early this week.
This season, Piquerez has played 16 games for Palmeiras, with two assists and no goals scored. Martínez participated in one more match, but did not have a direct role in any of the team’s goals.
