Paraguay, who had already qualified for the quarter-finals of the 2015 Copa América thanks to Ecuador's 2-1 victory over Mexico last night. A 1-1 draw secured both team's passage into this summer's quarter-finals, with their exact opponents behind determined during the course of tomorrow as the teams through from Group C will be confirmed after their respective matches.
The match itself was open and end-to-end, and Uruguay were in desperate need of points following their 1-0 defeat at the hands of Rio de la Plata rivals Argentina. La Albirroja had the first real chance of note in the first-half following a corner-kick, as Nelson Haedo Valdez's header flashed wide past Fernando Muslera's goal.
Uruguay drew first blood in the 29th minute courtesy of Atlético Madrid's talented centre-back Jose Gímenez. Following a Carlos Sanchez corner, the Atléti youngster was able to power in a header which flew in off the post and past 'keeper Justo Villar to give the defending champions the lead and increase their hopes of getting out of the group.
The competition's holders almost doubled their lead ten minutes later after Diego Rolan cut inside and attempted a strike at-goal. However, the ball fell into the path of Paris Saint-Germain forward Edinson Cavani, but his effort flew off-target on what has been a disappointing competition for the PSG man thus far.
Paraguay would get one back from Lucas Barrios, who with his second goal of the tournament, was able to power in a header from an Edgar Benitez corner-kick to bring the undefeated side on level terms towards the end of half-time.
In the second half, Uruguay would have a lot of chances to get a winner from Rolan, whose shot was wayward and struggled to really trouble Villar, ten minutes after the interval. A Nestor Ortigoza injury was in the air following a challenge with a Uruguayan player and the player is most likely set to miss the remainder of the tournament. Subsituite Christian Stuani replaced him, and had an opportunity - only to watch on as his header towards goal trickled wide of the mark. He would have one more big chance to give Uruguay the lead once more, only for his low attempted cross to trickle aimlessly into the arms of Villar and as a result, secured a point for each side.
With this result, Uruguay will now play against the hosts Chile in Santiago on Wednesday, while depending on the result of Argentina vs Jamaica, it looks like that Paraguay will play the winner of Group C next Saturday.
