Leonel Jaime sweeps AUF awards: best player and young talent for July and August

Two awards in the same afternoon and a level of play that nobody at Peñarol is questioning anymore. Leonel Jaime was named best player of the Liga AUF Uruguaya for July and August, and as if that weren't enough, he also picked up the Young Talent award for that same stretch. A double celebration for the Argentine, who arrived at Peñarol and wasted no time making his mark.

The numbers back up the recognition: over those two months, which lined up right with his first appearances in the black and gold, Jaime scored two goals and handed out five assists. Not bad at all for someone who was just presenting his credentials in Uruguayan soccer.

One of those goals came in a game that was anything but ordinary: the Torneo Intermedio final against Wanderers. The other one he scored at the start of the 2026 Torneo Clausura, against Central Español on opening day. And in both matches he didn't stop at scoring: he also set up a teammate, contributing directly to goals at both ends of the play. He spread the rest of his assists across a match against Boston River and two occasions against Cerro Largo, all within the Intermedio.

That combination of goals, assists and clutch decision-making in big games is exactly what the AUF ended up rewarding twice over: as best player of the two-month period and, at the same time, as the breakout talent of that stretch of the calendar.

Calvo takes home goal of the two-month period

The other standout name of the ceremony was Francisco Calvo, a Nacional defender, who won the award for best goal of July-August. His strike was no ordinary one: it was a backheel that gave Nacional the win in the clasico, played on the road against Peñarol in matchday four of the Torneo Clausura. A defender's goal with a forward's flair, in the toughest possible setting.

Rounding out the list of standouts was Mathías Bernatene, Liverpool's goalkeeper, recognized with the award for best save of the period. His moment came in the match against Defensor Sporting, in matchday six of the Torneo Intermedio, where he came up with a double save, denying shots from Brian Montenegro and Alexander Machado. Two attempts, one answer: the goalkeeper's, who came away with the ball in his hands.

Between Jaime's scoring debut at Peñarol, Calvo's brilliance in the middle of the clasico, and Bernatene's cat-like reflexes, the July-August AUF Awards offered a clear snapshot of the best the Liga AUF Uruguaya had to offer over the first half of the season.