It was a game in which skill and goal-scoring gave way to blatant brutality.
A total of four yellow cards and one red card may not have been enough in a match in which there were 41 fouls shared between Uruguay and Brazil.
Neither team played well enough to deserve a goal in regular time and, for the third time in a Copa America quarter-final, the match went to penalties.
But one team had to win, and that team was Uruguay, who are reaching the final of this tournament for the first time since 2011.
A semi-final matchup with Colombia is set in Charlotte, North Carolina, for a chance to fight for the title.
In a heated match between Uruguay and Brazil, 41 fouls were called.
He included four yellow cards and this red card that left Uruguay with ten men.
Uruguay had to go to the bench early when Ronald Araujo suffered a serious injury and had to be replaced in the 33rd minute. Fortunately for La Celeste, they had a ready replacement in José María Giménez.
Possession was even at half-time, but Brazil had created more clear-cut chances, but none of them were successful. This continued for the first ten minutes of the second half, with shots going wide, mistakes and a lack of communication on both sides. Not to mention how hard the game was being played.
This was not Jogo Bonito in action, but rather it looked like ‘football from the twilight zone’, where physical challenges and attempts to injure took precedence over the game itself.
There was much anticipation surrounding the inclusion of 17-year-old Endrick in the starting XI. Earlier this tournament, he became the youngest player to take to the field for the Selecao in the Copa America since 2011. However, the Real Madrid-bound striker had failed to make an impact in the match.
The Seleção seemed to miss the services of Vinicius Junior, who is out due to an accumulation of yellow cards.
Time and again, promising moments were left aside. A Brazilian attack was thwarted in the 67th minute when the Uruguayan defence attacked Joao Gomez and Lucas Paqueta’s shot was blocked.
On a subsequent counter-attack, Nahitan Nandez’s cross went high and across the byline – another great moment that led to nothing.
Uruguay’s Sergio Rochet lies on the ground during the quarter-final match against Brazil
Nahitan Nandez argues with referee Dario Herrera after being shown a red card
The low point of the “Twilight Zone” part of the match came when Nandez made an unnecessarily hard tackle on Rodrygo. A lengthy VAR review showed that the full-back made a straight-leg tackle right on the Real Madrid player’s ankle, prompting referee Dario Herrera to show the red card.
As penalties seemed to be drawing ever closer, changes were made that did not depend on the penalty takers. After four minutes, Uruguay replaced Darwin Núñez with Giorgian De Arrascaeta and Facundo Pellistri with Guillermo Varela, while Brazil brought on Paquetá for Douglas Luiz and Raphinha for Savio.
This match did not deserve a goal at the right time. Neither team played well enough to achieve it. Only a penalty shootout – the third of these quarter-finals – could decide who would advance.
Even before this started, the two teams had to separate themselves from fighting each other in the center circle, another sign of the brutality of this rivalry.
Manuel Ugarte celebrates the penalty that gave Uruguay the victory and puts them into the semi-finals
In the first round, Uruguayan Federico Valverde put his shot into the side netting. Brazilian Eder Militao sent his shot to the left of the goalkeeper and Uruguayan Sergio Rochet saved it.
In the second round, Rodrigo Betancur easily got his shot past Alisson’s arms while Andreas Pereira sent Rochet the wrong way.
De Arrascaeta started the third round with a powerful shot that went in off the goalkeeper’s right flank, but in the 82nd minute Douglas Luiz, fresh off the bench, sent his shot off the post.
With the winning shot at his feet, José María Giménez had his shot saved by a lunging Alisson who raised his fist in victory. Gabriel Martinelli finished powerfully to keep the Seleçao alive.
Then, on the final kick of the match, Manuel Ugarte’s shot found the net, beating Alisson and sending Uruguay into the semi-finals for the first time in more than a decade.
