Furious Uruguay exits Copa after Chile loss
Print Edition
CHILE bundled reigning champion Uruguay out of the Copa America with a 1-0 victory in a fast-paced quarterfinal that ended in controversy and kept alive the host nation’s dream of a maiden title on Wednesday.
Uruguay was reduced to nine men by the end of the game at the National Stadium in Santiago with Edinson Cavani sent off for a second yellow card after 62 minutes and Jorge Fucile also shown red for a second booking with two minutes remaining.
After Fucile’s exit, the match was halted for several minutes as Uruguay players surrounded the referee and officials and players from both sides scuffled on the field.
The holder looked hard done by after video evidence showed it was Gonzalo Jara who first gave Cavani a friendly slap and then poked him behind the referee’s back.
When Cavani touched Jara’s face with the slightest of taps, he fell to the ground to provoke a second yellow for the big Paris Saint-Germain striker.
“There’s a bitter taste in our mouths,” Uruguay manager Oscar Tabarez told reporters. “I’ve seen the television and photographs, that’s where the truth is.”
It is not the first time Jara has been involved in controversy involving a Uruguayan opponent. In 2013, Luis Suarez punched the defender after the Chilean reportedly grabbed the Uruguay striker’s genitals during a World Cup qualifier.
Tabarez said the dismissal of Cavani, when the match was at 0-0, turned the tide against his team. “We had the game under control but when we were left with 10 men it became a little more difficult because it limited our opportunities to attack,” he explained.
It was a miserable end to the tournament for Cavani, who had been booked in the first half for aggressively confronting a linesman after a tackle involving Chile midfielder Arturo Vidal.
On Monday, Cavani’s father was arrested in Uruguay after his involvement in a fatal traffic accident which left a 19-year-old motorcyclist dead.
Uruguay reacted to Cavani’s dismissal doggedly, and had appeared to be on its way to taking the game to a penalty shoot-out with a superb defensive performance led by center-half Diego Godin.
But Mauricio Isla scored the only goal in the 82nd when he fired home from 15 yards after Uruguayan goalkeeper Fernando Muslera had weakly punched away a cross.
Host Chile, which dominated the match with 80 percent of possession, has never won the Copa America since its inception in 1916 and now faces the winner of today’s Peru-Bolivia encounter.
“We now have another game I don’t know if it will be Peru or Bolivia but we still have the dream,” said striker Alexis Sanchez. “We fought hard and we have to thank the fans who were behind us all the way.”
In the other quarterfinals, Argentina faces Colombia and Brazil plays Paraguay.
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