Leeds United icons Raphinha and Marcelo Bielsa were in action against one another overnight for the second time in just four months.
The former’s Brazil were taking on Bielsa‘s Uruguay in their latest CONMEBOL World Cup qualification match.
Bielsa warmed up for his Leeds reunion by breaking the record for the number of World Cup qualifying wins as a manager in South America with a last-gasp 3-2 victory over Colombia.
That win was Bielsa’s 32nd in the competition as he overtook Oscar Tabarez at the top of the list. But while Tabarez needed 74 matches to claim his 31 wins, Bielsa’s latest victory came after just 55 matches.
When Bielsa and Raphinha met in the Copa America back in July, it was Uruguay who came out on top as they progressed through to the semi-finals of the competition with a penalty shootout success.
What the score was in Bielsa vs Raphinha reunion
Luis Suarez’s recent criticism of Bielsa has very much brought the spotlight on the former Leeds manager’s job at Uruguay, but this international break will have gone a long way to restoring the confidence of him being the right man.
As mentioned, Uruguay picked up an impressive win over Colombia last time out and have backed that up with a 1-1 draw away in Brazil.
Uruguay actually took the lead in the second half when Federico Valverde opened the scoring just 10 minutes after the break.
However, it did not take Brazil too long to respond as Gerson fired in an equaliser shortly after, which is the scoreline the game ended up finishing.
That point sees Uruguay maintain second spot on 20 points in the World Cup qualifying table, with Brazil two points and three places further back on 18.
How Leeds’ remaining internationals got on, on Tuesday
It was a busy day for the internationals currently still at Leeds with as many as eight members of Daniel Farke‘s squad in action on Tuesday.
Ao Tanaka kicked things off by playing 90 minutes of Japan’s 3-1 win over China, with Wilfried Gnonto following soon after with a half-an-hour cameo in Italy U21s’ 2-2 draw with Ukraine.
Mateo Joseph was again on the scoresheet for Spain U21s in their win over Denmark, while Joe Rodon and Dan James both started Wales’ 4-1 win against Iceland. Karl Darlow and Charlie Crew were unused subs.
Junior Firpo rounded things off with two assists in the Dominican Republic’s 6-1 win over Bermuda last night.
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