Marcelo Bielsa has made a decision on his captain for Uruguay’s friendly against Uzbekistan, which involves Celtic’s Marcelo Saracchi.
Saracchi was called up to the Uruguay squad for the first time since March 2025 for their October internationals.
As a reward for his fine form, Bielsa made Saracchi captain for the game against the Dominican Republic and has included the left-back in his team to play Uzbekistan to take his senior international appearances to 10.
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Marcelo Saracchi not named captain for Uruguay friendly vs Uzbekistan
While it may have been a reward for his fine start to life at Celtic Park, the 27-year-old hasn’t been given the chance to take the armband.
Despite being named in the starting XI, the full-back won’t lead his team out, with that job going to Wolverhampton Wanderers defender Santiago Bueno.
Uruguay were fined for naming a weakened squad for the fixtures as big hitters such as Federico Valverde were left out.
Brendan Rodgers faces Marcelo Saracchi selection dilemma
Everybody was delighted to see Kieran Tierney return to his boyhood club this summer, but even he will admit that he is yet to fully get going.
On the other hand, Saracchi has looked impressive in the left-back role and has adjusted back to the pace of European football well following a spell in Argentina.
It has come to a point now where there is a genuine case to say that Tierney should be playing second fiddle to the Uruguayan.
For Brendan Rodgers, it must be a welcome problem to have two great options but, at some point, he is going to have to choose one over the other.
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