Buenos Aires. Argentinean hopes of winning a major tournament after 1993 were shattered yet again as Uruguay defeated the hosts 5-4 in penalty shootout. Uruguayan goalkeeper Fernando Muslera saved Carlos Tevez's spot kick to give his side a place in the semifinal against Peru who defeated Colombia 2-0 in another quarterfinal clash on Saturday.
"Today we had to fight more than play ... These are two teams that came here to be champions, but this was only a quarter-final and there's still a long way to go," Uruguay's captain Diego Lugano told reporters.
Argentina coach Sergio Batista told the post-match news conference that he was disappointed but was satisfied by the player’s efforts. "I can't be content because no-one likes to be eliminated but I'm satisfied with the players," he added.
Uruguay drew first blood as they took lead in the fifth minute through Diego Perez. But Argentina soon equalized with Gonzalo Higuain heading a curling free kick from Messi. Thanks to foul play, both the teams were down to ten men by the end of stipulated 90 minutes. First Uruguay’s midfielder Diego Perez was sent off seven minutes before half time, and then the Argentinean skipper Javier Mascherano was red carded in the 86th minute for a bad tackle on Luis Suarez.
After Diego Forlan and Messi’s free kicks were converted both the teams failed to break free till second half’s whistle blew. The same score line persisted even after extra time and the match went down to penalty shootout, where Argentina’s third penalty by late substitute Carlos Tevez was saved by Fernando Muslera to extend Argentina’s big tournament draught further.
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