Tottenham star Rodrigo Bentancur has been handed a four-game international ban

It hasn’t been smooth sailing for Tottenham Hotspur midfielder Rodrigo Bentancur since February 2023.

The Uruguay international ruptured the ACL in his left knee in Spurs’ 4-1 win over Leicester City back in February 2023 which ruled him out for several months. He recovered from the serious knee injury and returned to competitive football in November last year, only for tearing a ligament in his ankle.

This ruled Rodrigo Bentancur out for more than two months, and when he overcame his ankle problem, he couldn’t deliver consistently for Tottenham.

The 27-year-old suffered a horrific head injury after a clash of heads with Leicester City’s Abdul Fatawu in Spurs’ first game of the 2024/25 season. Having stretchered off the field, he missed the next game against Everton due to concussion protocol.

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Before the start of the new Premier League season, Bentancur went to the summer’s Copa America. After Uruguay’s heated semi-final defeat to Colombia, the central midfielder was infamously involved in clashes between his nation’s players and the opposition fans. And the verdict on his sanctions has now been delivered.

According to Uruguayan journalist Rodrigo Romano, Bentancur has been handed a four-game international ban for his involvement in the ugly scenes that followed Uruguay’s semi-final defeat against Colombia in the Copa America in Charlotte, North Carolina in July. He has also been fined $16,000 (£12,118) as a result.

The Tottenham star is one of the five Uruguay players to be sanctioned by South American football’s governing body CONMEBOL on Wednesday. He will miss Uruguay’s upcoming World Cup qualifiers against Paraguay, Venezuela, Peru and Ecuador. The midfielder will be available to feature for his nation once again in November when they host Colombia in November.

Bentancur’s time at Spurs since arriving from Juventus in January 2022 can be best described as mixed. He has been unfortunate with injury problems, missing 52 games in total for the north London club thus far. The recent nasty clash of heads further sucked the momentum that the midfielder had built from his strong displays for Uruguay at the Copa America.

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Nonetheless, the Nueva Helvecia-born talent will be raring to get back on the pitch as quickly as possible and give his best for our club. When fully fit, Bentancur is an asset to Big Ange’s side.