Godin and Gimenez are the best central defenders: Rodriguez

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Bengaluru, June 19: Uruguayan winger Cristian Rodriguez has claimed that his nation's defenders Diego Godin and Jose Gimenez are the best centre-backs in the world.

Gimenez was the goal scorer during Uruguay’s opening game in the 2018 FIFA World Cup against Egypt, where the Latin Americans won by 1-0.

Ahead of their second game in the World Cup against Saudi Arabia on Wednesday (June 20), Rodriguez told in the pre-match press conference, "Diego and Jose are the best central defenders in the world. They play an important role for the team. They've been developing together for a few years."

The former PSG and Atletico Madrid winger feels the tournament in progress is a very even one compared to the previous ones.

The 32-year-old said, "It's been a very even tournament so far. Nobody expected those results from either Argentina or Brazil. It's a very difficult competition to qualify for, and then when it starts it's even harder."

Argentina and Brazil drew their openers against Iceland and Switzerland respectively. Meanwhile, the defending champions Germany suffered a shocking 0-1 defeat in their tournament opener against Mexico.

Uruguay also failed to impress in their on-field performance in their opener, however, they edged out Egypt by 1-0. Rodriguez believes that the victory was important and he is confident to do well as the tournament progresses.

"We trust in our style. Our first goal is to progress from the group phase and then deal with whatever comes next. This team has been playing together for many years and we have a good level of experience," the Penarol left-winger said.

Rodriguez has revealed that he doesn’t like the VAR system (Video assistant referees). However, he has also mentioned that it helps referees in the crucial situations.

He shared his view on VAR by quoting, "Personally, I don't like VAR because the Uruguayan — well, Latin American — style relies on being fast-footed. It doesn't help us. It does help referees, though, especially when there are serious fouls."