URUGUAY SURVIVED GOING down to 10 men as they beat Brazil on penalties to book a place in the Copa America semi-finals.
A tetchy match of few chances but plenty of fouls in Las Vegas ended 0-0, Uruguay playing the last 20 minutes a man short after Nahitan Nandez was shown a red card following a VAR check.
But they rarely looked stretched and two Brazilian penalty misses saw them through to the last four.
Neither side managed to find any fluency in the first half with just three shots on target amid 18 fouls.
Darwin Nunez had the best chance, heading over from close range after 34 minutes having seen an earlier effort deflected wide.
Brazil’s best chance followed within seconds, a break sending Raphinha through on Sergio Rochet who managed to block it with his left hand – repeating the feat with the only other clear chance of the half.
If anything, the second half proved even more cagey.
Manuel Ugarte fired in an early long-range volley straight at Alisson in the Brazil goal, but it proved to be Uruguay’s only shot on target in the half.
The foul count continued to grow, eventually reaching 41, and it boiled over after 71 minutes when Nandez brought down Rodrygo.
Argentine referee Dario Herrera originally brandished a yellow card, but a VAR check saw the challenge on the side of the Brazilian’s ankle upgraded to a red.
Despite the extra man, a Brazil team shorn of the suspended Vinicius Jr struggled to open up a compact Uruguay and needed until the 84th minute for Endrick to register their only shot on target of the half with a weak effort from outside the box.
Rochet saved Eder Militao’s opening penalty while Douglas Luiz put his effort against the post, Alisson’s save from Jose Gimenez only delaying the inevitable as Manuel Ugarte found the top right corner to wrap up a 4-2 shootout win.
Uruguay will face Colombia in the semi-finals in Charlotte after their impressive 5-0 win over Panama.
James Rodriguez delivered another top class performance for Colombia, creating two goals and scoring a penalty as Panama were put to the sword.
The other semi-final, on Tuesday in New Jersey, will see world champions Argentina take on surprise package Canada.
Colombia went ahead in the eighth minute when Jhon Cordoba showed great strength to hold off his marker and power home a header from a Rodriguez corner.
Seven minutes later Rodriguez converted from the penalty spot after Jhon Arias burst into the area and was brought down by diving Panama keeper Orlando Mosquera.
four minutes before the break, Colombia put the game beyond the reach of the Central Americans when Rodriguez showed great awareness to take a quick free-kick from in his own half, lifting the ball over the top to Luis Diaz.
The Liverpool winger raced goalward and with Mosquera caught in no-man’s land pulled off a wonderful chip to make it 3-0.
Colombia kept calm control of the game after the break and added a fourth in the 70th minute with a 25-yard blast from Richard Rios.
Daniel Munoz had looked to be brought down inside the box but before the referee could blow his whistle, Rios pounced on the loose ball and blasted home.
In stoppage time, Panama defender Jose Cordoba crashed into Santiago Arias in the area and with Rodriguez having been substituted, Miguel Borja slotted home the penalty to complete the rout.
Additional reporting – © AFP 2024
