On July 2, Beijing time, the group stage of the Copa America continued to be hot, the host of Group C, the United States, lost to the favorite Uruguay and was eliminated, and Uruguay, ranked 14th in the world, won all three games in the group stage and advanced to the first place; Panama, ranked 43rd in the world, won the win to finish second in the group. Let's take a quick rundown of the competition and the latest standings from Group C of the Copa America.
USA - Uruguay
At the beginning of the game, the United States took advantage of the absolute possession advantage of the home field to attack patiently, and Uruguay played extremely cautiously, first based on defense, and then waiting for opportunities to attack. As the game progressed, Uruguay gradually began to exert its strength, and the more they played, the more dominant they became. Due to the fierce confrontation between the two teams, Uruguayan player Maximiliano was unfortunately injured and could not continue the game, and was carried out of the field on a stretcher by medical personnel. Then Balogun, De La Cruz, and Araujo fell to the ground in pain after the confrontation, but fortunately, they had no problem and could still hold on. In the closing stages, Nunez's volley from the penalty area was deflected. Turning his head, Balogun was also unable to hold on due to injury and was replaced. At halftime, both teams lost one player each, which was really tragic! In the second half, the game immediately fell into silence, until in the 66th minute, Oliveira scored in front of the goal to open the scoring for Uruguay, forcing the United States into a desperate situation. The United States, who were behind, quickly counter-attacked, and Pulisic's volley from the top of the arc was deflected off the goal by Ugarte. Since then, the United States has continued to exert pressure, but it is difficult to find a good opportunity in the face of Uruguay's iron bucket formation, and can only accept the fate of losing and going out. At full-time, the United States lost 0-1 to Uruguay. For the first time in their history, the United States, ranked 11th in the world, failed to advance from the group after making a successful start to a major tournament.
Panama-Bolivia
Panama, who was aiming for three points at the beginning, put on an all-out offensive posture to besiege the Bolivian goal, and finally in the 22nd minute, Fajardo received a pass from his teammates with his back in the penalty area, perfectly unloaded the ball, turned and pulled the rod to break the deadlock. Panama went on the offensive from then on, with Bolivian goalkeeper Vizcarra making a number of crucial saves. Bolivia, fighting for honor after withstanding a wave of onslaught from its opponents, responded by taking up the banner of a counter-offensive. In the 69th minute of the game, Bolivia played a delicate combination in the front, and Miranda equalized with a low shot from a small angle into the near corner. The goal conceded forced the conservative Panama to make another wave of attack. In the 79th minute, Guerrero's header gave Panama the lead again. In stoppage time, Yannis fired a furious shot into the top right corner of the net in the penalty area, completely ending the suspense of the game. Panama beat Bolivia 3-1 at full-time. Panama, ranked 43rd in the world, made history by qualifying for the knockout stage for the first time in history.