A penalty shootout decided who would join Canada, Argentina and Colombia in the Copa America semi-finals, as Uruguay narrowly defeated Brazil to reach the last four of the tournament.
Two of the best footballing nations on the planet went head-to-head to decided who would join Argentina, Canada and Colombia in the Copa America semi-finals.
Despite the magnitude of the game taking place at Allegiant Stadium, the first half didn’t have much to offer outside of one chance for each side. Raphinha came to close to opening the score before Sergio Rochet denied the Barcelona forward from close range, while Darwin Nunez squandered a huge chance in front of goal with a missed header.
The first half was full of both teams canceling each other out through foul after foul, and the second half was more of the same — with a red card shown to Uruguay’s Nahitan Nandez.
Neither side were able to find the breakthrough through 90 minutes, and Uruguay advanced 4-1 on penalty kicks to reach the Copa America semi-finals. La Celeste will take on Colombia with a trip to the final on the line, where the winner of that match could take on either Argentina or Canada.
Sergio Rochet managed to keep out Eder Militao’s penalty to put Uruguay in good spirits to begin the shootout before Manuel Ugarte finished things off with the winning attempt. While Marcelo Bielsa’s is more than likely safe, Dorival Junior could be shown the exit after a poor campaign from Brazil.
GK: Sergio Rochet – 8/10 – A bystander for most of the game outside of a massive one-on-one save to deny Raphinha in the first half. Came up huge to manage a save on Militao’s penalty attempt during the shootout.
RB: Nahitan Nandez – 5/10 – Solid going forward and tracking back as he saved a sure-fire goal after a horrid back-pass from Vina. Didn’t help his side at all after getting sent off for a rash challenge on Rodrygo.
CB: Ronald Araujo – 6/10 – The Barcelona defender started off slow and was finding his groove in defense before he was forced off due to injury.
CB: Mathias Olivera – 7/10 – Solid overall. Wasn’t called to action much as there weren’t too many genuine chances during the match.
LB: Matias Vina – 6/10 – Nearly gave Brazil the lead in the first 45 after a shocking pass back to Rochet but thankfully Nandez stepped in.
CM: Federico Valverde – 7/10 – It was another strong display in the middle of the park from the…
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