On Sunday night, Darwin Nunez scored another goal for Uruguay, but not before missing two more excellent opportunities. The Liverpool striker promised to “never give up.”
Nunez scored a beautiful volley in Uruguay’s 3-1 Copa America victory over Panama, making it nine goals in eight games under manager Marcelo Bielsa.
It seems like the 25-year-old has more freedom playing for his country than he does for his club, since expectation to perform well at Liverpool is mounting.
Nunez responded to those who criticized Uruguay for missing opportunities, though, following the country’s opening win in the tournament in the United States.
He said to El Observador, “In the end, I will always miss goals; I will miss five or ten, but I will try eleven times.”
“A striker needs to do that; if he misses five, he needs to keep trying and never give up because in the end, nothing will happen.”
By the end of the 2023–24 season, Nunez had missed more significant opportunities than every other Premier League player but one; Erling Haaland’s 34 was the only one to surpass his 27.
The problem for Liverpool fans has been that, even with the optimism that if he keeps finding the right spots, things can ultimately click to Haaland-level performance, his goal total of 11 is minuscule compared to the Norwegian’s 27.
Nunez appears to have rediscovered consistency in front of goal under Bielsa, although even that is accompanied by his well-known tendency to miss easier opportunities than to score.
Regarding his attempt to oppose Panama, he remarked, “I didn’t expect it.”
“Fortunately, it stayed where it was, even if I believed Maxi Araujo headed it. I said, “This is where I hit it,” without thinking.
His claim that he “didn’t think” before scoring goes hand in hand with the idea that he is better off being an instinctual striker.
But with Arne Slot taking over as Liverpool’s new head coach, the expectation will be that he can combine this obvious skill in front of goal with a more clinical edge in terms of simpler chances.