Watch: Barcelona star's major mistake costs his country dear in World Cup qualifier
A headline member of the defensive ranks at La Liga giants Barcelona was responsible for a moment to forget on the international stage in the early hours of Friday.
The player in question? Ronald Araújo.
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Stopper Araújo was in from the off earlier today, as Uruguay locked horns with Paraguay in a crunch qualifier for the 2026 World Cup.
Inside the closing ten minutes of action, Marcelo Bielsa's troops found themselves trailing by a goal to nil, aware that the next goal would likely prove decisive in the fixture's outcome.
And as much subsequently went the way of Paraguay, in no small part owing to a high-profile error on the part of Araújo.
After receiving the ball inside his own penalty area, the under-fire Barcelona star took far too long to sort his feet out, allowing Julio Enciso to nick the ball away, before Araújo took the Brighton man down with a clumsy challenge.
Enciso went on to dust himself down before dispatching the ensuing spot-kick, sealing a 2-0 Paraguay triumph.
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Uruguay, as a result, remain 5th in the CONMEBOL table amid the ongoing World Cup qualification campaign, set to slip to 6th in the case of Colombia besting Peru later this evening.
Conor Laird – GSFN
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