They completed with 26 fouls, 10 males and one shot on course.
They doled out bodily beatings minute after minute, all throughout Allegiant Stadium’s claustrophobic discipline.
They, Uruguay, turned the final of 4 Copa América quarterfinals into the soccer equal of a massacre. And Brazil, mighty Brazil, drowned in it.
Brazil — inhabitants 216 million, World Cup titles 5, expertise infinite — limped out of the match Saturday, defeated 0-0 (4-2 on penalties).
Uruguay — inhabitants 3.4 million — erupted in delight. Sky blue-clad gamers streamed onto the sector, victorious. Brazilians, devastated, may solely watch.
However the story of the evening was the brutality they endured, the brutality that diminished joga bonito to one thing resembling a avenue combat.
These two South American neighbors dueled for 90 minutes in Las Vegas. And Uruguay, the oft-overshadowed neighbor, merely by no means backed down.
On paper, there was no contest; “for those who take it identify by identify,” as Brazil’s Andreas Pereira mentioned earlier this week, “we’ve a crew that they dream of getting.”
However on the pitch, there was insanity. There was Uruguay supervisor Marcelo Bielsa’s legendary man-to-man press, which strangled Brazil in its personal half. There have been collisions, it appeared, each three seconds.
Inside six minutes, gamers had been virtually swinging at one another.
Nicolás de la Cruz careened into Éder Militão, and crunched Militão’s decrease leg. Minutes later, with the ball out of play, Ronald Araújo snuck behind Endrick and threw a shoulder into the Brazilian wunderkind’s again.
Someway, there have been no yellow playing cards till the thirty ninth minute. There have been dozens of challenges that may have been fouls in 98% of soccer video games all over the world, however not right here. There have been Brazilians howling at referee Dario Herrera, leaping up off their bench and gesticulating frantically to precise their fury.
Lastly, halfway by means of the second half, they acquired their name.
Finally, one of many many flying Uruguayan tackles, from Nahitan Nández, caught Rodrygo flush above the ankle. After a video evaluate, Herrera despatched Nández off.
However by means of all of it, even with 10 males for the ultimate 20 minutes, the Uruguayans stayed steady and, in a bizarre manner, calm.
They performed with fireplace, like warriors, with customary Garra Charrúa, with no regard for fatigue nor for their very own bodily well being. They contested each progressive Brazil move. They hurled themselves into bodily duels, sometimes cleansing out teammates, who turned crucial casualties.
Within the shadow of their very own penalty field, they rallied to the ball like a ferocious NFL protection.
They restricted Endrick — who began in positioned of the suspended Vinicius Junior — to only one accomplished move on 5 makes an attempt. One!
They tumbled or despatched Brazilians tumbling so typically that Herrera could not probably blow his whistle each time a participant acquired floored — so the bar for a foul rose to outstanding heights.
And but there have been nonetheless 41 fouls within the match. It opened up briefly towards the top of the primary half, then acquired uneven within the second. There have been only a few sustained possessions. Neither crew accomplished 80% of its passes. Bielsa, up off his sideline water cooler, may very well be heard over pitch-side microphones imploring his crew to maintain going, preserve urgent: “Vamos! Vamos!”
So that they saved going, saved urgent, saved battling. They threw forearms into Brazilian grills. They grabbed yellow jerseys with their fingers. They held Brazil to 0.6 anticipated targets, regardless of taking part in the latter phases at a 10-v-11 drawback, towards a rustic with 64 instances as many individuals and 27 instances as a lot cash.
And naturally, they outraged some followers, who felt they had been sullying the attractive sport.
However they did not care; they made this particular sport precisely what they needed it to be, and despatched it to a shootout.
Even between the ultimate whistle and the shootout, there was a minor scuffle close to midfield. However then there have been penalties that epitomized the duality of Uruguayan soccer. It’s brutal, intense, unwavering — and concurrently expert.
Federico Valverde slammed his opening try into the facet netting. Rodrigo Bentancur and Giorgian de Arrascaeta, two sometimes pleasant midfielders, stayed cool. Two Brazilians missed, leaving Uruguay with a large shootout lead.
And with the ultimate kick of the evening, Manuel Ugarte sealed the deal, lifting Uruguay to a Wednesday semifinal towards Colombia, and burying South American soccer’s truest big.