Cavani doesn't stop, never loses his quality as a goalscorer- Oscar Tabarez

The Sky Blues got past the defending champions with a late header and will face Peru in the quarterfinals.

Edinson Cavani's late header secured a 1-0 win over Copa America defending champions Chile, as the Sky Blues ended their group stage at the first position and will face Peru in the quarterfinals on Saturday 29 June 2019. In this crucial win, Oscar Tabarez was full of praise for the Paris Saint Germain forward. 

Uruguay had only registered two shots on target prior to the match-winning goal, albeit for a Jonathan Rodriguez cross which Cavani sent into the bottom right corner of Gabriel Arias's goal.

Match Highlights: Uruguay 1-0 Chile

"Cavani doesn't stop, ever," Tabarez said. "And he never loses his quality as a goalscorer. It was a good cross, but not very strong. He had to head it with power and there are not many players capable of doing it in that manner."

Chile were the dominant side in the game, having come close to scoring a number of times, especially in the second half, when they were denied by a goal-line save.

"It was a really tough game. Those close games are often decided by details," Tabarez said. "This team will always fight until the end. That's a characteristic of our football. We might slip up sometimes, but we fight for every ball as if it were our last."

"That attitude forms the basis of everything we do and now the young players that we have are also taking that on board, which reassures me about our future."

Cavani has scored two goals in three games as of now in this edition of the Copa America. Interestingly, nine players have similar statistics of scoring two in three games, including the likes of Alexis Sanchez, Philippe Coutinho, Everton, Luis Suarez and more. 

19 - Uruguay???????? have managed to win more games against Chile???????? than they have against any other nation in Copa America history, beating them in 19 of their 30 meetings in the competition (D4 L7). Paternity. #CopaAmerica pic.twitter.com/HnKy374lxg

— OptaJavier (@OptaJavier) June 25, 2019

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Chile will face Colombia at Sao Paulo's Corinthians Arena on Friday. Colombia have a perfect record in the competition so far.