Manchester United’s Facundo Pellistri flops as Uruguay crashes out of Copa America
Despite having a man advantage for half of the game, Uruguay and Facundo Pellistri of Manchester United were eliminated from the Copa America.
The Uruguayans had defeated Brazil in the previous round, but there would be no repeat as Colombia prevailed 1-0 and advanced to the final against United’s Lisandro Martinez and Alejandro Garnacho’s Argentina.
After squandering a handful of excellent first-half chances, the 15-time tournament champions fell down in the 39th minute when Jefferson Lerma nodded in from a corner. Uruguay got a big advantage when their opponent was reduced to ten men in extra time of the first half after Daniel Muñoz received a second yellow card.
Despite controlling 62% of the ball, La Celeste was unable to capitalize on their good fortune and failed to score an equalizing goal.
They had 11 shots on goal, the same as Colombia, and only two on target despite playing the whole second half with an extra man.
Pellistri had a bad game and was substituted at halftime.
Despite starting the tournament brightly with a goal and an assist, the winger has faded as the campaign progressed.
The winger received a 6.7 on Sofascore for his performance in Charlotte that night.
He only attempted one dribble and got 11 ball touches during the game.
He had a 75% pass percentage but only completed three of four, demonstrating the winger’s peripheral influence on the game.
Nonetheless, one of those passes was crucial, but it did not result in a prize for his nation. During the semi-finals, he also failed to make a single shot on or off target.
Defensively, he won two of his four ground duels but lost his single aerial combat. The attacker also made one tackle in the game.
Pellistri’s team will now face Canada in the third-place playoff on Saturday night (Sunday am UK time), hoping to put the disappointment of the previous night behind them.
United fans will also hope that a transfer for Uruguay’s Manuel Ugarte can be expedited now that the South Americans can no longer win the tournament, much as the Netherlands’ Euro 2024 loss to England should assist the Joshua Zirkzee and Matthijs de Ligt moves proceed more quickly.