After a foul-strewn and evenly contested first half in the Copa America semi-finals, fans of Latin football expected a bright second half. In the end, a scoreless match was made in the tiebreaker. Where Brazil’s dream was shattered by two failed shots, Uruguay in the semi-finals.
On Sunday (July 7), the quarter-finals ended in a goalless tie. Uruguay won the tiebreaker 4-2. At the start of the first half in Las Vegas, the Selecao couldn’t attack like that. On the other hand, Uruguay kept Brazil’s defense under a lot of pressure.
In the 18th minute of the match, Daryun Nunez’s great header was stopped by the Brazilian defenders. Uruguay attacked again after a minute. Nicolás de la Cruz’s shot from the corner hit Mathias Oliveira’s head and went wide of the goal.
Uruguay created a great opportunity in the 35th minute of the match. Nunez’s header goes just over the bar.
From there, the five-time world champions went on a counter attack. Rafinha entered the Uruguayan defense alone with the ball. Barcelona’s forward took the corner even though he could not beat the goalkeeper. However, the expected goal did not come from the corner kick.
La Cruz attacked again in the 43rd minute of the match. With Ugarte’s assist, he scored from the left side of the goal.
Brazil also came on the attack in injury time. However, Rafinha could not break the wall of goalkeeper Sergio Rochet. The first half ended in a goalless draw.
Both teams were desperate for goals in the second half. Uruguay also had a good chance in the 47th minute of the match. But Valverde’s long-range shot was easily saved by Alison Baker.
Then in the 52nd minute, Darwin Nunez’s shot missed the target after hitting Danilo. In the 62nd minute, another long-range effort from Valverde went over the bar.
Uruguay became a team of 10 in the 74th minute of the match. Nandez left the field after seeing a red card for tackling Rodrigo from behind.
The five-time world champions attacked one after another in that opportunity. In the 84th minute of the match, Endrik’s shot was easily saved by Uruguay goalkeeper Sergio Rochet. Even after the scheduled 90 minutes in the tense and hot match, neither team could score the desired goal.
As a result, the match was made into a tiebreaker. There, 15-time champions Uruguay reached the semi-finals by defeating Brazil 4-2.
