Uruguay beat Ghana 2-0 in their final group game but failed to make it out of the Round of 16 as South Korea stunned Portugal in the other group fixture.
The Koreans scored a late winner and despite the two teams having the same number of points and goal difference, the Asian side advanced as they had scored more goals.
La Celeste took a 2-0 lead within 32 minutes in their fixture against the Black Stars, with both goals coming from Giorgio de Arrascaeta. Ghana had also missed an early penalty through Andre Ayew. At half time, Uruguay were in the Round of 16, with Korea drawing 1-1 with Portugal at that stage.
As time progressed, Diego Alonso opted to make more defensive subs, taking off goal scorer De Arrascaeta as well as Luis Suarez and Liverpool forward Darwin Nunez.
Unfortunately for them, Korea scored in the 91st minute, meaning that Uruguay had to score another to qualify, and despite their best efforts, they weren’t able to add to their tally.
Things could have been different had referee Daniel Siebert given them a penalty for Amartey’s foul on Nunez early in the second half. At that stage, it didn’t affect the result, but at full time, it did, and Uruguay’s players were a crestfallen lot at the final whistle.
