Viviendo el Sueño | Damiani earns his first senior team call-up for Uruguay

2026 has been a rollercoaster for Bruno Damiani, Philadelphia Union’s 24-year-old Uruguayan striker.

He’s experiencing the biggest thrill of it all now.

For the first time in his professional career, Damiani has been called up to the Uruguayan Senior Men’s National Team, joining his country for camp and matches against Argentina and the Dominican Republic.

“It’s a dream come true. It’s going to be an amazing experience. I hope that I will get some minutes, but it’s going to be great to play with top players, playing against the biggest team in the world,” Damiani remarked.

“I think it’s going to help me also to learn and to come back with confidence.”

Uruguay will play on Friday, November 13th against Argentina and Tuesday, November 17th against the Dominican Republic. Four days after that second match, the Union will begin their MLS Cup Playoff campaign, presumably with Damiani as a starting striker. The team finished the regular season at 6th in the East, so they’ll face 3rd-place New England Revolution in the best-of-three first-round series.

Damiani’s individual achievements on the pitch as of late have been a driving force for both his call-up and the Union’s historic turnaround. The team climbed from last in the league before the World Cup break to well above the playoff line by their regular season finale, but it took serious perseverance and mental fortitude to do so.

The Philadelphia Union opened the season with just one win in 15 matches. Damiani scored just one goal in that stretch, finding the back of the net at last in the team’s final match before the pause on the road against Inter Miami. The 6-4 barnburner ended in favor of Miami – the Union’s 10th loss of the season.

Shortly after, Ryan Richter took over as interim head coach. When Philadelphia returned to play under his leadership, the Union went 15 straight matches without a loss, and Damiani played a massive role, scoring 11 goals during the club-record unbeaten streak.

He finished the regular season with 13 total goals on the scoresheet plus five assists, doubling his nine goal contributions from 2025, his first year in MLS.

“I’m just proud of the way I train and behave in the tough moments, and I feel like this is a reward of all the work I put in,” Damiani said.

“I’ve always said coming here was a step in my career, and being able to score goals and last year being successful, getting the Supporters’ Shield, this year getting more goals – all of that helped me to be closer to the national team.”

His latest goal came on Decision Day, scoring the team’s fourth from the penalty spot. He had found out about his national team call-up after the team’s Thursday training session.

“They called me first to say that I was reserved, and then, one day before the day they posted, they called me again. I think it was three days ago after training, and it was an unbelievable afternoon with all my family doing video calls all the time,” Damiani said.

“Yesterday and today, I tried to focus on the game, not being on social media at all and everything because we were playing a big game today. But, now I’m gonna keep talking with everyone. I’m happy that also I can see my family [in Uruguay].”

He departed for camp on Sunday, and by Monday afternoon, Uruguay celebrated his arrival on their social media, with the caption, “Viviendo el Sueño.”

Living the dream.

He’ll do it under the leadership of Diego Forlán – Uruguay’s newly appointed interim head coach for both the senior team. He also coaches the U-20s. The announcement of his hiring came late in the summer after Marcelo Bielsa stepped down from the role following the country’s group stage exit from the World Cup.

Also known as Cachavacha, Forlán boasted a 12-year career for Uruguay as a forward, playing in three FIFA World Cups, and earning the Golden Ball award in 2010 when his country finished fourth.

“I think Forlán is, for the Uruguayans of my age, the first idol we had. In the 2010 World Cup, he was our best player, and it means a lot. It means a lot that someone like him values the work that I put in and MLS,” Damiani said.

“He is showing that he is watching the league and cares about the players here, and that’s a good sign for sure.”

Damiani and Forlán are both from Montevideo, the capital and largest city of Uruguay.

When asked if there was anything he picked up from watching him while growing up, Damiani said they are very different players, but Forlán’s mentality and quality are characteristics he’s long admired.

“[From him, I learned] don’t feel smaller just because you come from a smaller country,” Damiani said.

“His story, how professional he was all of his career, makes him a role model for me for sure.”