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Japan’s Kou Itakura, left, vies for the ball against Uruguay’s Lucas Torreira, right, during a Copa America Group C football match at the Arena Gremio in Porto Alegre, Brazil on June 20. (AP/PTI)[/caption]
Porto Alegre (Brazil) June 21 (IANS): Uruguay were unable to seal their ticket to the quarter-finals of the Copa America after earning a 2-2 draw against Japan in a riveting game in which the South American squad managed to salvage a point despite being down on the scoreboard on two occasions.
In a balanced back-and-forth game on Thursday, Uruguay - so far one of the most attractive teams in the tournament - found much more opposition than it had anticipated. La Celeste needed to make a comeback, twice to earn the draw, reports Efe news.
It did so in the first half, thanks to a penalty converted by Luis Suarez in the 33rd minute that allowed Uruguay to equalise the first goal that Japan's Koji Miyoshi had scored in eight minutes earlier.
After the break, Miyoshi again found the back of the Uruguayans' net in the 59th minute. Only the powerful play of Josema Gimenez allowed him to tie from the corner kick seven minutes later.
With this draw, Uruguay now leads Group C with four points, Chile has three - ahead of Friday's match against Ecuador - Japan has one and the Ecuadorian team has none.