Luis Suarez missed a crucial penalty in the shootout causing his team’s departure from the tournament.
The 15 time Copa America champions were sent home by Peru after their defeat (5-4) in a penalty shootout. Uruguay dominated the whole game and had 3 goals ruled out for off-side by VAR. Luis Suarez missed the first penalty in the shootout adding to the misery and frustration after already seeing a goal ruled out for offside. All the other players converted their penalties and Edison Flores sealed Peru’s place in the last four by scoring past Uruguay goalkeeper Fernando Muslera.
In a post match interview Edinson Cavani told reporters “Luis was very sad, he ended up missing in a decisive moment but that’s football and life”,
“Sometimes you win, sometimes you lose. We have won the Copa before but today we have to accept that we are out.”
Goals from Edinson Cavani, De Arrascaeta and Luis Suarez were ruled out by fine margins of offside by the VAR. Uruguay had a total of 12 shots attempted while Peru had only 3. Luis Suarez’s penalty miss added more frustration to the Uruguayan team.
Peru will face Chile in the semifinals in Porto Alegre on Wednesday.
“I am very proud. I am speechless,” said striker Paolo Guerrero after scoring in the shootout.
“People said before Uruguay were the favourites but being favourites means nothing in football, especially in South America.”
After a disappointing night in the Fonte Nova Arena Uruguay coach Oscar Tabarez expressed his regret to the media. “This is a huge disappointment because we came here wanting to win and we tried to impose ourselves on the game,”
“We have to accept the defeat and congratulate Peru because they didn’t do anything against the rules. They tried to slow down the game and they didn’t take risks, something we have done many times before.”