Uruguay overcome resilient Panama in an intense Group C opening encounter at Copa America 2024

Araújo, Núñez, and Viña score as La Celeste overcome second-half Panama resurgence.

Copa America’s joint most successful nation, Uruguay, kicked off their opening Group C fixture against Panama at the Hard Rock Stadium in Miami, following the USMNT’s thumping 2-0 win over Bolivia in the group opener.

La Celeste started the match on the front foot, just like every Marcelo Bielsa team, and took an early 1-0 lead in the 16th minute of the game when left-back Matías Viña’s ball found winger Maximiliano Araújo, who struck a left-footed shot from outside the box to the top right corner.

Uruguay were all over the Panama side in the first half, as they registered a staggering 12 attempts on their opponent’s goal, with five on target, to completely dominate proceedings in what looked like a one-sided affair.

However, against the run of play, Panama missed an incredible chance through forward José Fajardo to level the game in first-half stoppage time and remained behind going into the break.

The second half began with a big change as José Giménez replaced the injured Ronald Araujo as center-back. After ending the first half strongly, Panama started the second half with intent as they looked to pose a serious threat to the Uruguayan goal.

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Just a few minutes into the half, Panama almost equalized as center-back Roderick Miller headed the ball just over the bar from close range after a well-worked set-piece routine by wing-back Éric Davis. Following that, Panama’s Puma Rodríguez launched a left-footed strike from outside the box that narrowly missed the target.

The pressure was mounting on Uruguay as the momentum was now on Panama’s side, with the latter inching closer to finding the back of the net with every attempt. Both sides were exchanging blows in the form of near misses, making the match an open-ended contest.

Panama’s inspired second-half showing undoubtedly gave La Celeste a run for the money, but Darwin Nunez’s calculated left-footed finish on the volley from the center of the box in the 85th minute gave Uruguay a much-needed two-goal cushion to seal the game.

To add the final nail to the coffin, Thomas Christiansen’s Panama side went 3-0 behind in added time courtesy of a Matías Viña header into the bottom left corner before Murillo scored a late consolation goal for Panama to end the match. Uruguay emerged 3-1 winners in a hard-fought battle against Panama to go top of the Group C standings.

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