Last Vegas, July 8: Marcelo Bielsa knew what the world’s reaction would be after Uruguay and Brazil grinded, scrapped and shoved their way through a Copa America quarterfinal match with 41 fouls, four shots on target and no goals in open play.Bielsa knows the beautiful game wasn’t so attractive Saturday night, but the famously inventive coach now running Uruguay’s bench only cared about the celebrations back home and in the Vegas stands when La Celeste picked up a landmark win.
Manuel Ugarte scored the decisive goal in the fifth round of the shootout and Uruguay advanced to the Copa America semifinals with a 4-2 penalty kick victory after the teams played to a scoreless draw.
Uruguay and Brazil played a bruising, choppy match with plenty of rough stuff, but little of the impressive soccer for which both South American powerhouses are known. Uruguay’s Nahitan Nández was sent off after a red card in the 74th minute for a dangerous tackle on Rodrygo, but Brazil still couldn’t break through its 10-man opponent in the ensuing 21 minutes.
“I (prefer) offensive football, but in this match, we created more opportunities and we defended well,” Bielsa said through an interpreter. “We did the things necessary to succeed at this level.”
Uruguay led 3-1 after three rounds of the shootout when goalkeeper Sergio Rochet stopped Éder Militão and Douglas Luiz hit the post. Alisson Becker saved José María Giménez’s shot in the fourth round to keep Brazil alive, but Ugarte banged home the clincher.
“If you ask me if I’m happy that we only created three goal-scoring opportunities, then no,” Bielsa said. “But our opponent only had two goal-scoring opportunities. We had to work hard to create our opportunities … but that was satisfactory to us.”