There has been a distinctly Uruguayan theme to soccer in New York City this week, which continued when attacking midfielder Santi Rodriguez inspired New York City to a 4-2 win against Orlando City at Yankee Stadium.

Tonight, the Bronx. A night earlier, New Jersey, across the Hudson River at the MetLife Stadium where a convincing Uruguay had seen off Bolivia with a 5-0 win in their Copa America group stage game.

The similarities existed not just on the field, but in the stands, too. The sky blue of New York City, borrowed from its parent team in Manchester, was reminiscent of the Uruguay support which made up the majority of the 48,000 fans at a MetLife Stadium decked out in similar colors on Thursday night.

As all these elements combined, the question of whether Rodriguez deserves a call-up to his national team can naturally be raised.

Though he appeared at youth level for his country, the 24-year-old is yet to be capped at senior level.

Uruguay head coach Marcelo Bielsa might be interested in a creative No.10 who also has the good off-ball work rate required to be an effective presser.

This game against an Orlando side that offered little resistance gave Rodriguez the opportunity to showcase a range of his skills.

He opened the scoring from outside the area, laid up by the slightest of touches from Alonso Martinez before arrowing his shot into the bottom corner.

He then played an instrumental role in the second goal, lifting a pass in the direction of Tayvon Gray, who did well to sneak in ahead of Ivan Angulo and cross for Hannes Wolf.

The game was halted for an extended period midway through the first half when a 50-50 involving Malachi Jones and Mason Stajduhar led to both players needing lengthy treatment. Both left the pitch with what looked like serious injuries.

As a result of the stoppage, thirteen additional minutes were played at the end of the first half which ended up lasting almost a full hour.

New York City’s third goal came with 12 of those added minutes played and meant they had the game all but won by halftime.

Rodriguez was not involved this time, but Gray once again showed his ability to find a teammate in the box from his right-back position, crossing well for Agustin Ojeda, who had replaced Jones. Thiago Martins’ ball forward for Gray from center-back was a useful part of this third goal, too.

Rodriguez was replaced by Maxi Moralez on the 69th minute, perhaps with an eye to saving him for Wednesday’s game against Montreal at NYCFC’s other home, Citi Field, Queens.

There’s a case to say Rodriguez has been New York City’s best player so far this season, though goalkeeper Matt Freese would likely be the front-runner for such an accolade.

Freese was called into action against Orlando, as he often is in NYCFC games regardless of the game state, saving well from Angulo at his near post.

He did concede, though, as Dagur Thorhallsson eventually found goal for the visitors and Duncan McGuire’s goal in added time made things slightly more uncomfortable for NYC than they should have been.

Though the defensive unit will be disappointed not to keep a clean sheet, the job of winning the game and ending a three-match losing streak was the main task, and it was achieved.

“To close it out was a huge positive,” said New York City head coach Nick Cushing.

“The first half was one of the best halves we’ve played this season. Three points is big for us.”

Mounsef Bakrar’s curler inside the far post to make it four for New York City was a good way to end the game for the struggling striker, as he scored what was just his second goal of the season.

It was perhaps no surprise New York City lacked some cutting edge, control, and invention with Rodriguez off the field.

He has regularly been the talisman, and with Uruguay in town the night before and the Celeste colors prominent in the city for a little while, this was a good time for him to take the limelight.