Uruguay 2 – 0 Brazil
The first half of the match had been playing for 44 minutes. Uruguay midfielder Nicolás De La Cruz was in a battle for the ball with Neymar. In the scuffle, De La Cruz fell, and it seemed that Brazil’s forward was in pain. The sight of him writhing in pain had raised concerns, possibly indicating a new injury.
Neymar received initial medical attention on the field, and players from both teams had gathered around. Until the end of the stretcher, Neymar was crying while leaving the field. The match had not been going well for Brazil either. In the South American World Cup qualifiers in Montevideo, Uruguay welcomed Brazil with a 2-0 victory. This victory is a significant blow to Brazil, ending their unbeaten streak of 37 matches.
The current interim head coach, Fernando Diniz, couldn’t make Brazil perform well either. In the first 40 minutes, both teams played cautiously without any clear attacks. There hadn’t been much action, but both teams committed a total of 17 fouls during that time.
In the 42nd minute, Maximiliano Gómez headed a goal from a cross, giving Uruguay the lead. It was the first goal of the match. After that, Neymar left the field with an injury, and Brazil’s chances in the match slowly faded away.
At the end, Uruguay secured their victory with a second goal in the 77th minute, scored by Nicolás De La Cruz from a pass from Maximiliano Gómez. With this victory, Uruguay has won the match 2-0 and is now ahead of Brazil. This win marks the first time in 40 years that Brazil has lost a match against an opponent in the South American region. Marcelo Bielsa’s team held on to the lead throughout, earning the victory.
Neymar couldn’t properly put his injured left leg down before leaving the field. According to sources from the Brazilian Football Confederation, Neymar might have injured his ligament. Whether or not it is a ligament injury will be determined after an examination. Defensive midfielder Casemiro mentioned about Neymar’s situation at the end of the match, “Neymar’s departure from the field was a significant blow to us. Hopefully, it won’t be a major injury. He has suffered similar injuries before. It’s painful.”
In the qualifiers, Brazil lost points due to this and the previous draw against Venezuela. Brazil has faced 4 matches in the selection phase, accumulating 7 points. Meanwhile, Uruguay has defeated Brazil in their 7th match, accumulating 7 points in total. Brazil will face Colombia in the next match of the qualifiers on November 16.
