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da doce： Former Southampton defender Martin Caceres once again impressed for Uruguay in their 1-0 friendly defeat against France on Tuesday night, and Saints should be regretting releasing a player who is streets ahead of their other centre-backs, including the much-maligned Wesley Hoedt.
What’s the word, then?
Well, the south coast outfit signed the free agent in February 2017 following Jose Fonte’s departure to West Ham United and an injury suffered by Virgil van Dijk, and it was assumed that the experienced South American would play a key role for them in the final months of the campaign.
However, he only made one first-team appearance – a 2-1 win against Middlesbrough at the Riverside Stadium – before he was released that summer.
Hoedt and Jan Bednarek arrived at St Mary’s as Van Dijk was forced to stay put for at least a few months longer, while Caceres has since played for Hellas Verona and now Lazio.
Why should they have kept him?
The now 31-year-old was barely given a sniff by Claude Puel at the time, but he has shown his quality – especially for his country – since that moment.
The 5ft 10in defender was a regular for Uruguay at the 2018 World Cup in a less familiar right-back role, and he has got 11 caps for them this calendar year despite largely being a back-up option for Lazio.
Check out the video below to see how Brazil fans reacted to being asked how Cristiano Ronaldo would peform for them in a hilarious prank by Playmaker FC…
Caceres started at centre-back against the world champions on Tuesday and even though he was the one that gave away what looked like a very fortuitous penalty, he impressed with his general defensive abilities against the likes of Olivier Giroud and Kylian Mbappe as well as with his quality in possession.
There is no doubt that with his skill and experience that he is far superior to Hoedt and co at St Mary’s, with the club’s shaky defence one of the reasons they are once again struggling at the foot of the Premier League table.