Uruguay vs Venezuela. Copa America Group C.
Lincoln Financial Field.
Friday 10 June 2016 10:03, UK
Luis Suarez was left fuming on the sidelines as Uruguay crashed out of the Copa America Centenario after being beaten 1-0 by Venezuela in Philadelphia.
Suarez, nursing a hamstring injury when he joined up with the squad, has not yet played a single minute of the tournament.
The Barcelona forward appeared in the dugout and looked visibly frustrated at his failure to get on the pitch, at one point appearing to punch the dugout wall.
He had also been warming up by the side of the pitch at Lincoln Financial Field during the second half, but was unavailable to come on as he hadn't been named among the substitutes by boss Oscar Tabarez.
Tabarez, meanwhile, defended his decision not to name Suarez in the matchday squad.
"The player is not fit to play. It's a matter of numbers. I will not select a player who is not 100 percent. Was he angry? I am not aware. To me he told me nothing," Tabarez said.
Uruguay, the record 15-time Copa America champions, were eliminated in the group phase for the first time since 1997.
That result combined with Mexico's 2-0 Group C win over Jamaica in Pasadena left the 2011 champions struggling to digest a humiliating early exit.
"We never found the game we wanted and that cost us," Tabarez said, adding that the ill-fated campaign should serve as a warning to his team as they now look ahead to the resumption of 2018 World Cup qualifiers.
"It's been a very different Copa America. I've never experienced something like this before.
"We knew it was going to be difficult but this should be a wake-up call before the World Cup qualifiers," Tabarez added.
Venezuela's winner came on 36 minutes, when midfielder Alejandro Guerra cleverly spotted Uruguay goalkeeper Fernando Muslera off his line.
Guerra unleashed a long-range effort from near the halfway line which the back-pedalling Muslera could only parry onto the bar before Salomon Rondon bundled in the rebound.
Venezuela's passage through to the last eight is the biggest shock of the tournament so far.
The Venezuelans are currently bottom of South America's 10-team round robin qualifying competition for the 2018 World Cup while Uruguay are on top of the standings.
The Copa America continues on Friday with the second round of games in Group D - Chile meet Bolivia at Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, before Argentina take on Panama at Soldier Field in Chicago.
You can watch the Copa America live on Premier Sports.
