(Reuters) – Uruguay coach Marcelo Bielsa said his team's hard work and tenacity under pressure highlighted their unique character after beating Brazil with one man down in Saturday's Copa America quarter-final.
Uruguay was forced to play with 10 men late in the second half after Nahitan Nandez received a red card following a Video Assistant Referee (VAR) decision, but they defended tenaciously to take the game to a penalty shootout, where they won 4-2.
“Everything that happens is Uruguayan because the players give everything for the team,” Bielsa told reporters.
“It was a very close game with very few goal-scoring chances, a tight contest and very little movement of possession. When we were down a man we decided to focus on defending in our own half.”
“The fact that the Uruguayan team managed to defend that result is a testament to the quality of Uruguayan football, and they were very calm in the penalty shootout, which requires not only precision but also grit.”
Bielsa's side play a ruthless attacking style of football and no team has scored more goals in the tournament than Uruguay, who scored nine in the group stage.
But three consecutive clean sheets also helped Uruguay book their place in the semi-finals against Colombia, and Bielsa was quick to praise his team's mentality rather than taking credit for the defensive record.
“I'm more drawn to attacking than defending and in a tight game like this we created one more chance than our opponents and defended well,” Bielsa added.
“The Uruguay coach said… that we should learn how to defend on the pitch. And that's true because Uruguay are very solid defensively.”
“They've played against Mexico (in a friendly), the United States and Brazil and kept clean sheets. Defensively, I think they've been very good at keeping clean sheets, not because I've achieved it but because the players are naturally good at defending.”
(Reporting by Rohit Nair in Bengaluru; Editing by Michael Perry)
