URUGUAY pulled off a shocker, ousting Brazil, 0-0 (4-2 on penalties) in the quarterfinal round of the 2024 Copa America at the Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas, Nevada.
Federico Valverde gave Uruguay the lead as he knocked down the first penalty kick, but Brazil was unable to tie the count as Eder Militao’s attempt was saved by Uruguay goal keeper Sergio Rochet.
Rodrigo Bentacur and Giorgian De Arrascaeta knocked down their attempts for Uruguay, while Brazil only made one of their next two goals as they trailed in the shootout, 3-1.
After a miss by Uruguay’s Jose Maria Gimenez, Brazil cut the deficit to 2-3 via a conversion from Gabriel Martinelli, but Uruguay wrapped up the win with a connection from Manuel Ugarte.
“I (prefer) offensive football, but in this match, we created more opportunities and we defended well,” said Uruguay head coach Marcelo Bielsa. “We did the things necessary to succeed at this level.”
“If you ask me if I’m happy that we only created three goal-scoring opportunities, then no,” he added. “But our opponent only had two goal-scoring opportunities. We had to work hard to create our opportunities … but that was satisfactory to us.”
That quarterfinals victory was Uruguay’s first over Brazil in 13 meetings since 2001, but Bielsa’s group has now beaten Brazil in back-to-back matches for the first time since 1992.
Meanwhile, Colombia will head to their semifinals encounter with Uruguay with a dominant 5-0 victory Panama in their separate quarterfinals match at the State Farm Stadium.
Jhon Cordoba, James Rodriguez, and Luis Diaz knocked down a goal each in the opening half of Colombia before they wrapped up the win in the second half with back-to-back hits from Richard Rios and Miguel Borja.
Meanwhile, defending champion Argentina and Canada will face each other in the other semifinals match on Tuesday night (Wednesday morning in the Philippines) at the East Rutherford, New Jersey./PN
