Thanks to goals from Nicolás De La Cruz and Darwin Núñez in the first half, Uruguay concluded a good test on Tuesday by beating Canada 2-0 in a friendly match between teams that will participate in the World Cup in two months.

De La Cruz opened the scoring with a free kick from the left wing after six minutes. The attacking midfielder nailed the ball into the top corner of the goal defended by Milan Borjan.

Uruguay’s efficiency made up for Canada’s greater ball possession.

With the attacking partnership consisting of Luis Suárez and Núñez, La Celeste generated constant danger.

After half an hour in the Slovak city of Bratislava, Suárez caressed the second goal with a volley that went just wide. But Núñez hit a header at 33 minutes from a Suárez cross to make it 2-0.

“Generally we played very well in the first half, we were able to be aggressive under pressure,” said Uruguay coach Diego Alonso. “In the last 15 (minutes) it seems to me that we lost control a bit because we played too much in transition.”

These were the last warm-ups for these teams before their squads were announced ahead of the World Cup in Qatar which begins on November 20.

Uruguay, who had just lost 1-0 to Iran on Friday, will make their debut on the 24th against South Korea. Portugal and Ghana will be their other rivals in Group H.

The friendly match against Iran resulted in a notable loss for La Celeste as their defender Ronald Araujo suffered an adductor longus tendon avulsion in his right thigh. The Barcelona player will have surgery in Finland on Wednesday and his World Cup presence is in jeopardy.

Alonso opened up about the situation of one of his key players and said he would wait for the 23-year-old until the last moment.

“I told Ronald in private: I’ll wait for him,” said the Uruguayan helmsman. “We think medically he has clear options to reach the World Cup.”

“Let’s wait for the evolution… I will wait for the 26 that I have in my head until the end,” he added, referring to the maximum number of players that can be called up.

Canada returns to a World Cup for the first time since 1986. Its debut will be November 23 against Belgium in a Group F completed by Croatia and Morocco.

The Canadians were coming off a 2-0 win over Qatar.

Although bottom of the scoreboard in Bratislava, Canada had more starts and generated a good flow of chances. Alistair Johnston missed the equalizer with a header that went wide past Alphonso Davies’ cross after 12 minutes. Uruguay goalkeeper Sergio Rochet blocked a left-footed shot from Cyle Larin in the 24th minute.

Both teams made many changes after the break and the game got boring. Canadian pressure grew intense in the final half hour – Davies demanded again from Rochet – but they couldn’t find a way to break through the Uruguayan goal.