L’Uruguay he doesn’t give discounts and despite having already qualified, he also wins against the United Stateseliminating them in the first round and flying to the quarter-finals as unchallenged group leaders. A huge setback for the Stateswho thus had to say goodbye to the event that they themselves had organized well ahead of schedule, seeing the surprising Panama, an opponent from Conmebol, advance to the next round as second.
Adding insult to injury: the goal of Olivera that decided the match was born from a dubious position of the Neapolitan, on the edge of offside and this gave rise to endless controversies especially at the end of the match. Offside not detected by the VAR, with the Milan player Clean really furious with the referee Ortega. As can be seen from the footage from the sidelines, the American addresses the referee with obvious gestures indicating Uruguay busy celebrating with their fans. Then, when he approached to shake his hand after this long-distance argument, he saw the referee himself refuse to return the greeting.
The final standings see Marcelo Bielsa’s team progressing from the group with 9 points, followed by Panama with 6. The United States (3) and Bolivia (0) remain at a standstill and are already on their way back home to digest the disappointment.