The presence of Ronald Araújo in this World Cup continues to be unknown. The Barcelona defender continues to recover from his injury to the adductor longus tendon in his right thigh that forced him to undergo surgery at the end of September, a physical setback that did not change Diego Alonso’s decision.
The Uruguayan coach took him to Qatar after the federation of that country and Barça reached an agreement: he would play if he made a miraculous recovery -the surgical intervention kept him off the pitch a priori for about three months-: when he is “physically fit” and is “discharged” in the opinion of both parties.
Uruguay has already played two games without Araújo and will not be in the third either. Alonso confirmed it in the press conference prior to the game against Ghana, decisive to advance round. Despite this, he denied that he will not play any World Cup match if the Charrúas are still alive, denying the information from a journalist.
“Whether Araujo plays or not will depend on me, that I am the coach, not on what the president of Barcelona says. In the first place and on an agreement that we made with the club, where (it was agreed) that when the player If he was physically fit between the two parties, between Barcelona and Uruguay, when he was released, the player would be available”.
“If there is a disagreement, it is decided by a third party. What you are saying is not true (that Araujo is not going to play in the World Cup). We spoke to the contrary with Barcelona. We have permanent contact with Barcelona, ??I spoke with Xavi, I spoke with doctor Pruna , I spoke with Mateo Alemany and the agreement we had is the opposite of what you are saying,” he added. That third party would be Dr. Lasse Lempainen, the surgeon who operated on him.
Diego Alonso remarked that the footballer, injured on September 23 in the adductor and operated on the 28th of that month in Finland, “continues in frank evolution” (on Wednesday he was seen training some exercises with the group in various images of the official means of the selection) and “in recovery”. “When he is fit, he is fit to be able to participate. What we cannot put is a date. It is a matter of evolution,” he said.
Araujo is not yet ready to enter the competition in Qatar 2022, so he will be out for this Friday’s duel against Ghana. Is he available against Ghana? “At the moment, no,” he replied. His recovery would have gone very well for Uruguay, since for this game he will not be able to count on the Atltico de Madrid central defender, José María Giménez, who was suspended.
