Veteran strikers Luis Suarez and Edinson Cavani have been left out of Uruguay’s squad for friendlies against Japan and South Korea, the South American country’s football association said on Thursday.
Interim manager Marcelo Broli also overlooked experienced defenders Diego Godin and Jose Maria Gimenez for the matches later this month.
The 23-man squad includes several uncapped players, including goalkeeper Santiago Mele, left-back Joaquin Piquerez, midfielder Felipe Carballo and forward Matias Arezo.
“I don’t want to go into particular cases, but there are players who don’t need to prove anything else in the national team,” Broli said. “The idea is also to take advantage of these games to provide information for the next coach.”
The Celeste will face Japan in Tokyo on March 24 and South Korea in Seoul four days later.
Broli took charge of the Celeste on an interim basis after Uruguay’s failure to reach the knockout stage of the 2022 FIFA World Cup.
Uruguay squad:
Goalkeepers: Sergio Rochet, Santiago Mele, Gaston Oliveira
Defenders: Sebastian Coates, Santiago Bueno, Ronald Araujo, Matias Vina, Puma Rodriguez, Mathias Olivera, Joaquin Piquerez, Giovanni Gonzalez
Midfielders: Manuel Ugarte, Matias Vecino, Felipe Carballo, Federico Valverde, Facundo Pellistri, Facundo Torres, Agustin Canobbio, Giorgian De Arrascaeta, Diego Rossi
Strikers: Darwin Nunez, Maximiliano Gomez, Matias Arezo.
