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Suarez’s Late Heroics Secure Uruguay Third Place in Copa America

Uruguay clinched third place in the Copa America after a nail-biting 4-3 penalty shootout victory over Canada, following Luis Suarez’s dramatic injury-time equalizer.

The match, held at Charlotte’s Bank of America Stadium, ended 2-2 in regular time. Uruguay’s Rodrigo Bentancur opened the scoring, but Canada quickly responded with goals from Ismael Kone and Jonathan David to take a 2-1 lead. In the second minute of injury time, Suarez leveled the score, pushing the contest to a penalty shootout.

In the shootout, Kone’s spot-kick was saved by Uruguay goalkeeper Sergio Rochet, and Alphonso Davies’ attempt missed the mark, striking the crossbar with an attempted panenka. Federico Valverde, Giorgian de Arrascaeta, Bentancur, and Suarez all converted their penalties for Uruguay, securing the victory.

Uruguay coach Marcelo Bielsa admitted his team “barely deserved” to reach the shootout and felt they underperformed throughout the tournament. “I thought that given our roster, we could have played a bit better than what we showed,” he said.

Canada’s coach Jesse Marsch praised his team’s overall performance, viewing the tournament as valuable preparation for the 2026 World Cup, which Canada will co-host with the United States and Mexico. “We’re still a young team. It’s not so easy to build a tactical model with such short time and under such big stresses against such good opponents,” Marsch added.

The Copa America final will see Argentina face Colombia at 01:00 BST on Monday.

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