Fede Valverde makes Vinicius’s night bitter

Playing at home and looking for a victory that would allow them to surpass Uruguay in the table and place second, Brazil took control from the beginning, but again showed their lack of ideas in the last meters.

The Uruguayans once again displayed a solid and orderly defense, also helped by the good work in the midfield of Matías Ugarte, Fede Valverde and Rodrigo Bentancur, who did not allow the locals to have the fluidity of play necessary to create danger.

The best proof of this is that Brazil barely managed to get a shot on goal for the first time in first-half stoppage time, with a header from Igor Jesús that Sergio Rochet, very attentive, saved.

With an inoperative Vinicius once again both on the left and in the middleBrazil held on to the imbalance of the young Savinho on the right, although the Manchester City winger did not have his best night either.

For its part, Uruguay, with well-combined plays and coming out very quickly on the counterattack, did not allow itself to be intimidated and threatened with actions on the wings, although without success when it came to finding its striker Darwin Núñez in the area.

In the second half, Brazil seemed to go one step further to try to open the scoring and had two opportunities in the first minutes, with quick starts due to the speed of Savinho and Vinicius, although their shots came off the post.

Great goal from Valverde

Uruguay, on the other hand, did not forgive in the first time they had after the stoppage time and took the lead on the scoreboard with a great shot from the entrance of Valverde’s crescentagainst which Ederson could do nothing.

Dorival Junior quickly brought on forwards Luiz Henrique and Gabriel Martinelli instead of attacker Igor Jesús and full-back Abner.

Without too many ideas but against a rival whose result was already worth it, Brazil locked down Uruguay and managed to tie in the 62nd minutewhen Marcelo Saracchi cleared a Raphinha cross on the left side and Gerson, very attentive, connected a whip from the entrance of the area, without letting the ball fall, which marked the tie.

In the final minutes, the Seleçao desperately tried for the second goal, with Vinicius and the young Estevao on the wings, although once again the lack of ideas to create play and find a way to overcome the celestial defense was evident.

The tie frustrates a Brazil that last month had achieved two consecutive victories against Chile and Peru but that ends the year with two disappointing draws against Venezuela and Uruguay and waiting for the return, in 2025, of its great star of recent years, Neymar.

For its part, Marcelo Bielsa’s Celeste left behind the crisis of results it experienced after the Copa América and said goodbye to 2024 by defeating Colombia at home and starting a draw in Brazil.

Argentina maintains the lead

In another of the matches of the day, Argentina returned to its strengths with a tight 1-0 victory against last-place Peru, and heads the table with 25 points, five more than Uruguay. Third, in the direct classification zone, is Ecuador with 19, the same as Colombia, which has a worse goal balance. Brazil occupies fifth place with 18 points and Paraguay closes the direct pass zone with 17. Bolivia occupies seventh place, in the play-off zone, with thirteen points.

Lautaro Martínez scored with scissors in the 55th minute after a cross from Lionel Messi and that was enough for the world champion to obtain a balmy victory and sink Peru into the hole.

The Albiceleste did not play a brilliant match in La Bombonera but needed the victory to chase away ghosts after the 2-1 loss against Paraguay last Thursday.

On the last date of 2024, Ecuador achieved a category victory against Colombia 1-0, Chile came out of the hole with an essential 4-2 victory against Venezuela, while Paraguay took a 2-2 draw from Bolivia, which was to celebration.