Tottenham Hotspur’s plans to watch Manuel Ugarte at the World Cup were foiled after he failed to make an appearance for Uruguay at the tournament.
The Sporting CP midfielder could only manage a place on the bench in each of Uruguay’s three fixtures in Qatar and saw their dreams of a first World Cup trophy since 1930 come to an end after they failed to qualify for the round of sixteen.
South Korea’s dramatic 91st minute goal against Portugal which secured a 2-1 victory saw Uruguay fail to finish in second place in Group H and were eliminated from the competition.
Uruguay manager Diego Alonso selected the likes of Matias Vecino, Federico Valverde and Tottenham’s Rodrigo Bentancur as his central midfield trio, leaving Ugarte only able to watch on from the sidelines.
Portuguese news outlet A Bola reported last week that the north Londoners had sent scouts to Qatar to cast their eye over Ugarte, who had already come up against Tottenham twice this season in the Champions League.
SpursWeb Opinion
It is highly likely that Ugarte was just one of a number of players that the Tottenham recruitment team would have wanted to assess at the tournament and instead will have to rely on him turning out for Sporting, if they wish to see more of him in action.
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