Copa America: Holders Uruguay knocked out by Chile

Hosts score an 81st-minute winner as Uruguay end match with nine players.

CHILE VS. URUGUAY
Chile have never won the Copa America [EPA]

Chile bundled reigning champions Uruguay out of the Copa America with a 1-0 victory in a fast-paced quarter-final that ended in controversy and kept alive the host nation’s dream of a maiden title.

Uruguay were reduced to nine men by the end of the game 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.

Mauricio Isla scored the only goal in the 82nd minute when he fired home from 15 yards after Uruguayan goalkeeper Fernando Muslera had weakly punched away a cross.


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Hosts Chile, who dominated the match with 80 percent of possession, have never won the Copa America since its inception in 1916 and now face the winner of Thursday’s Peru-Bolivia tie.

After Fucile’s exit, the match was halted for several minutes as Uruguay’s players surrounded the referee and officials and players from both sides scuffled on the field.

The holders 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 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.”

In the other quarter-finals, Argentina face Colombia on Friday and Brazil play Paraguay on Saturday.

Uruguay's Cavani was dismissed after a second yellow [AP]
Uruguay’s Cavani was dismissed after a second yellow [AP]
Source: Reuters