MONTEVIDEO: Man­uel Ugarte grabbed a dramatic last-gasp winner as Uruguay ended a five-match winless streak with a thrilling 3-2 win over Colombia in South American World Cup qualifying on Friday to ease the pressure on coach Marcelo Bielsa.

Marcelo Bielsa’s Uruguay looked set for a 2-1 win until Colombia levelled through Andres Gomez in the sixth minute of stoppage time.

But once the celebrations and the lengthy VAR check were over — Uruguay pumped the ball into the box and the ball fell to the Manchester United midfielder Ugarte and the substitute buried the chance for his first international goal 11 minutes into stoppage time.

The crowd at the historic Estadio Centenario went wild as Uruguay claimed the three points in their campaign to qualify for the 2026 World Cup and some revenge for their bad-tempered loss to Colombia in the Copa America semi-finals in July.

The win puts Uruguay second in the standings on 19 points, above Colombia on goal difference, while Argentina remain leaders with 22 points.

Bielsa has been under fire since October, when just-retired striker Luis Suárez criticised him for the way he treated players during the Copa America, saying the “friction” hurts. Other Uruguay players did not defend their coach from the criticism, and Bielsa himself admitted his grasp over the team was shaken.

“Triumphs like today’s are healing in the sense that they bring all the parties that are around such a strong feeling, as in Uruguay it is the national team,” Bielsa told a news conference.

“It was a thrilling match. It was evident that the players’ willpower was needed for such a victory, though it looked impossible after an equaliser so late in the match.

“It was essential to win again. Regardless of the way it happened, which was very exciting, it was a necessary victory. We are heading in the right direction.”

Colombia took the lead in the 31st minute with a clever free-kick from Juan Fernando Quintero. With the home defence expecting a cross from the left of the box, Quintero spotted that Venezuela keeper Sergio Rochet had left a gap at his near post and superbly fired his shot into the corner.

Uruguay drew level in the 57th minute in fortunate fashion when Marcelo Saracchi whipped in a cross from the left which deflected off Daniel Munoz and Davinson Sanchez’s attempted sliding clearance flew into his own net.

But there was no luck about the goal that put Uruguay ahead three minutes later. Maximiliano Araujo and Mathias Olivera combined well with a smart passing move before Rodrigo Aguirre skipped past a challenge and fired home.

It was an emotional moment for the 30-year-old Aguirre, who plays in Mexico with Club America and had represented his country at youth level but never broken into the senior team.

But with Uruguay having failed to score in their last four World Cup qualifiers, coach Marcelo Bielsa handed him a start and got his reward.

“I am very happy. I still can’t get over what the match was like and what it was like to score a goal,” Aguirre said after his international debut. “I’m very happy. I can’t believe it.”

He looked set to be the hero of the night until, after a goalmouth scramble, with Sanchez heading the ball into the box, Gomez pounced to grab what appeared to be a stoppage-time leveller.

But then came Ugarte’s winner and a much-needed victory for Bielsa’s team who had not won since beating Canada on penalties in the third place play-off of the Copa America in July.

“It was an even, hard-fought match. We played well and we were able to dominate, but in some cases we had a few turnovers that cost us a lot,” Colombia boss Nestor Lorenzo said.

“Uruguay have players of a lot of skill, they demand a lot from us, we can’t make mistakes. In the three goals they scored there were rebounds, pushes. We knew they had powerful strikers that could hurt us.

“The way the goals came, you feel frustration and guilt, but then the team recovered and we got the equaliser and what happened at the end was frustrating, to be beaten like that.”

Uruguay next play at fourth-placed Brazil on Tuesday, while Colombia host fifth-placed Ecuador.

In the battle of the bottom two teams in the ten-team qualifying group, Peru were held to a galless draw at home to Chile.

Peru had a penalty awarded in the seventh minute of stoppage time when Gianluca Lapadula was brought down by Felipe Mora but he was saved by a VAR review which found Lapadula was offside.

Peru are ninth in the standings on seven points, just one ahead of Chile.

Peru visit world champions Argentina on Tuesday while Chile host Venezuela.

The top six teams will qualify automatically for the 2026 World Cup hosted by the United States, Mexico and Canada.

Published in Dawn, November 17th, 2024