Liverpool ace Darwin Nunez in touching distance of breaking 96-year record ahead of 2024 Copa America clash vs USMNT
Liverpool striker Darwin Nunez is on the cusp of history with Uruguay at the ongoing 2024 Copa America in the United States. Nunez and Co. take on the hosts in their final group game on July 1 in Kansas City, Missouri.
The 15-time Copa champions have made a sterling start to their bid for another continental title. After commencing their campaign with a 3-1 win over Panama in Miami, Marcelo Bielsa's side thumped Bolivia 5-0 on Thursday (June 27) in East Rutherford to all but book their place in the knockouts.
Facundo Pellistri got the ball rolling inside eight minutes against their South American neighbors before Nunez doubled the lead 13 minutes later. Maximiliano Araujo, Federico Valverde and Rodrigo Bentancur scored in the last 13 minutes to round up the scoring.
In the process, Nunez scored in his seventh straight game for his national side, having also found the back of the net in the win over Panama in their campaign opener. The Liverpool striker also scored in a friendly before the ongoing tournament and in four straight games in the 2026 FIFA World Cup qualifiers.
As per Sport Bible, if he scores against the USMNT, Nunez will go past Hector Scarone's record of scoring in seven straight games for La Celeste, set in 1927.
Uruguay boss not concerned with Darwin Nunez's Liverpool form as 2024 Copa America knockouts beckon
Liverpool striker Darwin Nunez came into the 2024 Copa America off a rather underwhelming club season, contributing 18 goals and 13 assists in 54 games across competitions.
The Reds finished third in the Premier League, won the EFL Cup and reached the quarterfinals of the FA Cup and the UEFA Europa League, losing to eventual champions Manchester United and Atalanta, respectively.
However, Bielsa wasn't concerned about Nunez's club form coming into the Copa America, as he said (as per Sport Bible):
“Darwin is a player who doesn't need any kind of support. You have to know what it means to play for Liverpool and who he competes with, and what his cycles were like, when he converted, when he stopped converting, why he stopped converting.
“These are things that he manages in proportion to the place he occupies in the football world. The only thing that worries me is that he is able to do what he does in an extraordinary way as many times as possible, which is converting, defining, finishing the actions, choosing where he should direct the shot that provides the right conditions to execute it.”
Bielsa concluded:
“I insist, it would be a contradiction for me to say that what has value are the goals because I am saying the opposite. What is the best way to accompany that where he does not need company because he has shown that he can solve it on his own? Trying to give him a lot of balls to score goals.”
Darwin Nunez has 13 goals and three assists in 25 games for Uruguay since his goalscoring debut in a 1-1 home draw with Peru in Lima in a friendly in October 2019.