Liverpool have been watching on as players past and present seek to bring glory to their respective nations this summer. Sunday was a pivotal night as some Reds were handed the all-important opportunity.
First England met Spain in Berlin’s Euro 2024 final. Trent Alexander-Arnold and Joe Gomez began on the bench for the Three Lions, who fell 2-1 to a late Spanish winner. Then overnight for English supporters, it was Alexis Mac Allister vs Luis Diaz as Argentina faced Colombia in the Copa America final.
But of course plenty more of the Liverpool cohort were denied a shot at silverware this summer by exiting in the earlier rounds. One example is Uruguay, with Darwin Nunez and old-boy Luis Suarez knocked out by Diaz at Co in the Copa America semi-finals last week – a match that produced unsavoury scenes.
With that said, the Liverpool ECHO brings you the latest from Anfield on this busy week of news and transfer gossip…
Former Red Suarez has dropped the hint that he is ready to retire from international football.
With 69 goals, the 37-year-old is the greatest goalscorer in his country’s proud history. But for the most recent competition, he happily took a backseat role to allow younger stars to shine and use his own talents in bursts when required.
This was the case when Suarez scored a stoppage-time equaliser in Saturday’s third-place play-off with Canada, allowing his team to go on and win via a penalty shoot-out. After the final whistle, he hinted it may have been his last contribution in sky blue.
“There was no better way to end it, with victory today, finishing third, and taking positives and improving the negatives”, he said as per reports from Diario Sport. “It’s not time to talk about anything personally, about whether I will continue, or not.”
Ending Copa America on a brighter note than last week’s extraordinary scenes, Nunez got his hands on a bronze medal alongside his veteran team-mate. Liverpool will await news of a potential ban from football for their No.9, but for now he can enjoy this part of his summer with his consolation prize.
The 24-year-old was taken off at half-time of the match against Canada with the match at 1-1. But it was his celebrations for the stoppage-time goal that caught the eye more than anything.
As Suarez stabbed home from close range, his national colleagues rushed towards him at the corner flag. Beating the majority of them in a footrace to pile onto the 37-year-old was Nunez, who had set off from the dug-out midway up the pitch.
Nunez will now take a summer holiday to refresh ahead of his third season at Anfield. The Reds will just be hoping that FIFA do not choose to get involved in any disciplinary process from last week’s meeting with Colombia, as then his ban would extend to all competitions for both club and country.
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