Uruguay was reduced to ten men after Nahita Nandez tried to take the ball from the Brazilian with a studs-up challenge.
Uruguay defeated Brazil 4-2 in a penalty shootout on Saturday after falling down to 10 men in a brutal 0-0 draw at the Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas to advance to the Copa America semi-finals, where they will play Colombia.
With Vinicius Jr sidelined for Brazil and watching from the sidelines, Dorival Jr’s team struggled to create chances despite having a man advantage late in the second half after Uruguay’s Nahitan Nandez was sent off.
In the subsequent shootout, Sergio Rochet saved Brazil’s first penalty from Eder Militao, while his teammate Douglas Luiz hit the post, giving Uruguay the advantage.
Although Brazil’s Jose Maria Gimenez and Gabriel Martinelli scored to keep them in the game, Manuel Ugarte buried the winning penalty kick as Uruguay continued their quest for a record 16th Copa title.
Players from both teams engaged in physical skirmishes across the pitch during a tough match that had 41 fouls.
Endrick, Brazil’s 17-year-old attacker, was subjected to hard challenges from a high-pressing Uruguay that refused to give him space to breathe.
Raphinha acted out when Endrick was pushed to the ground by Ronald Araujo, and the Brazil captain replied in rage by shoving back before the referee intervened and had a sharp chat with both players, keeping his cards in his pocket.
However, Araujo’s night was cut short after the half-hour mark when he was replaced due to an injury, and the match erupted moments after when Darwin Nunez missed a close-range header that went over the net.
Raphinha’s counter-attack shot, Brazil’s best chance of the half, was saved by keeper Rochet in seconds.
With Uruguay unable to break through, coach Marcelo Bielsa made three replacements by the 67th minute, but his preparations were thwarted when Nandez was sent off for a severe tackle on Rodrygo.
Nandez made a studs-up challenge to grab the ball away from the Brazilian but only caught his ankle, but the Real Madrid winger was not seriously injured and was able to continue.
He was first issued a yellow card, but the referee escalated it to a red card after a VAR review.
Uruguay will meet Colombia in Wednesday’s semi-final in Charlotte, North Carolina, after defeating Panama 5-0 earlier on Saturday.
