As Pedro Gallese led his team onto the field in Montevideo, Uruguay last Thursday night, he, his teammates, and the Peruvian supporters knew how important the following two games would be for their country. ‘El Pulpo’ has been a leader and star performer for Peru which started the campaign without a win in its first five games of the CONMEBOL World Cup qualifiers.
Thursday night in Uruguay was the tougher of the final two games, with a return to Lima to face Paraguay after. Gallese was unable to stop the only goal of the game in the opener, which saw Uruguay — without his Orlando City teammate Facundo Torres this time — qualify automatically for the World Cup in Qatar.