Uruguay won’t be short of striking options in Russia with two net-busting players in La Liga on target with braces this weekend
Cristhian Stuani – the man leading a Catalan surprise package
It’s hard to challenge Edinson Cavani and Luis Suárez for their spots in the national team and while Cristhian Stuani will probably never succeed in doing that, he is proving to be a very reliable back-up option this year. He has been guiding newly-promoted Girona in a historic battle for European football and has been doing so in inspirational fashion.
Stuani is a warrior on the field who has an opportunistic nature to his game, giving him the edge over defenders on many occasions. It has resulted in 17 La Liga goals so far with the latest two coming in the Santiago Bernabeu last Sunday. His club might’ve lost 6-3, but to score twice away at a legendary ground against an elite side is something noteworthy.
Before the season commenced, there were several doubts if Stuani really was a national team player. Those doubts have been completely wiped away, though, by the man himself as his performances have led many to believe that the 31-year-old has been one of the best strikers in Spain this season.
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Michael Santos – finding his path to success in Europe
Maxi Gómez has started his career in Europe in spectacular fashion with a lot of goals in his debut season for Celta de Vigo. This, however, cannot happen to everyone as more often than not players struggle to adapt to another continent or even another league. Two reasons can be the cause of that; either the player in question is not good enough or matters like lack of confidence or continuity can keep a player from reaching their full potential.
For 25-year-old Uruguay striker Michael Santos, the latter seems to have been very much the case. Last campaign with Malaga, his first on the old continent, Santos showed flashes but was really affected by being played out of position a lot and not having any regularity when it came to his game time.
Now, away from La Rosaleda and instead playing on loan in the Segunda for Sporting Gijón, Santos is really enjoying his football. This weekend, he single-handedly won his club the game against Huesca with both goals in a 2-0 win, which were three very important points in the context of the battle for promotion to La Liga. Santos now has 15 league goals this season and if he can add some more and guide Gijón back to the Spanish top tier, you could say that he has proved a point.
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