Despite having what a few have considered a rather disappointing second loan spell at Alavés from Manchester United, Facundo Pellistri was called up to the Uruguay national team for the recent round of World Cup qualifiers.
He repaid the trust paid in him by Diego Alonso, who started him in both games against Paraguay and Venezuela, with two assists in the second of those games, which ended in a 4-1 win.
It was pretty much a dream start to the 20-year-old’s international career, who admitted, in a conversation with Punto Penal, that he certainly wasn’t entirely relaxed when he put on his country’s colours on for the first-time.
He said, relayed by El País: “You try to get away from everything, but it’s almost impossible that comments fail to reach you or that it reaches you by friends or whatever. I was calm that there were people who trusted me and what interested me the most was that the manager trusted me. Obviously the games are complicated, there are nerves, pressures, but that’s part of the sport and you need to how to play with this.
“Diego told me before the Paraguay game that he gave me the chance because he has been following me, even during my time at Peñarol, and he saw that I could face such pressure, which is why he gave me this chance.”
This was a massive step in Pellistri’s career, which was turned upside down when Manchester United came knocking for his services back in October 2020, signing the young winger from Peñarol for just over £7.5m.
He has yet to play a game for the Red Devils’ first team, and has been on two loans to Alavés where he has made 31 appearances, but has failed to register a goal or an assist in that time.
Perhaps these two games for his country will be the necessary boost to kickstart a purple patch at club level, and then return to Manchester United full of confidence to, eventually, break into the first-team there.
