Diego Forlán has labelled his first tour in charge of the Uruguay national team as 'spectacular', following a spell that yielded two wins and one loss in the recent September-October FIFA window. The interim coach is already working with the Uruguayan Football Association (AUF) to organise the team's next fixtures for the November international break, when La Celeste will return to action.

The Asian tour, which marked Forlán's debut on the bench, produced mixed results. Uruguay fell to a 3-1 defeat against Japan at the Q&A Stadium in Miyagi on September 24. The team responded emphatically in their next outings. Four days later, at the Seoul World Cup Stadium, they thrashed South Korea 1-4 with goals from Darwin Núñez, Giorgian de Arrascaeta, Guillermo Varela and a second from Núñez. The tour concluded with a resounding 1-6 victory over India at the VYBK in Kolkata on October 6, a match where Núñez, Maximiliano Araujo (twice), Rodrigo Zalazar, Javier Sanabria and Rodrigo Aguirre all found the net.

Planning for November

With that win over India, Uruguay is now on a two-game winning streak after the initial stumble in Japan. Forlán, who will also soon resume his duties with the U-20 side ahead of January's South American Championship, confirmed the immediate focus is on the November window. "It was spectacular," the coach stated when assessing the Asia experience. Alongside Jorge Giordano, the national teams director, and AUF authorities, Forlán is plotting the next steps for the senior side.

The Estadio Centenario will not be available for November's friendlies, so the AUF is evaluating options in the country's interior to host the matches. The search for opponents has become more difficult as the UEFA Nations League format has been replicated in Concacaf, shrinking the pool of national teams available for friendly matches in those dates.

The team's attacking output, with ten goals across the last two matches, provides positive momentum. Players like Darwin Núñez, who scored three times on tour, and Maximiliano Araujo, who netted a brace against India, showed strong form. La Celeste will aim to maintain this positive run when they play again in November, closing the year with more minutes for Forlán's project.

First reported at ladiaria.com.uy