Copa America: Ten-man Uruguay knock Brazil out on penalties

A tetchy Copa America encounter of few chances but plenty of fouls in Las Vegas ended 0-0, with Uruguay playing the last 20 minutes a man short after Nahitan Nandez was shown a red card following a VAR check.

READ: Euro 2024: Netherlands dig deep in quarter-final comeback win against Turkey

But they rarely looked stretched and two Brazilian penalty misses saw them through to the last four.

Neither side managed to find any fluency in the first half with just three shots on target amid 18 fouls.

Darwin Nunez had the best chance, heading over from close range after 34 minutes having seen an earlier effort deflected wide.

Brazil’s best chance followed within seconds, a break sending Raphinha through on Sergio Rochet who managed to block it with his left hand – repeating the feat with the only other clear chance of the half.

If anything, the second half proved even more cagey.

Manuel Ugarte fired in an early long-range volley straight at Alisson in the Brazil goal, but it proved to be Uruguay’s only shot on target in the half.

The foul count continued to grow, eventually reaching 41, and it boiled over after 71 minutes when Nandez brought down Rodrygo.

Argentine referee Dario Herrera originally brandished a yellow card, but a VAR check saw the challenge on the side of the Brazilian’s ankle upgraded to a red.

Despite the extra man, a Brazil team shorn of the suspended Vinicius Jr struggled to open up a compact Uruguay and needed until the 84th minute for Endrick to register their only shot on target of the half with a weak effort from outside the box.

Rochet saved Eder Militao’s opening penalty while Douglas Luiz put his effort against the post, Alisson’s save from Jose Gimenez only delaying the inevitable as Manuel Ugarte found the top right corner to wrap up a 4-2 shootout win.

Uruguay will face Colombia in the semi-finals in Charlotte.