‘Our families, including newborns, were in danger’: Uruguay players on why they brawled with Colombian fans

Colombia’s 1-0 victory over Uruguay in the Cop America semi-final was overshadowed by ugly scenes witnessed after the final whistle. The Uruguayan players waded into the stands and punches were thrown by the Colombian supporters as well as Uruguay players like Darwin Núñez.

Video clips of the mass brawl showed that projectiles were also thrown at the Uruguay players by the Colombian fans.

ESPN has reported that CONMEBOL, which is South American football’s governing body and the organizers of the Copa America, is investigating the incident.

Uruguay captain Jose Maria Gimenez spoke up about the incident, explaining why Uruguay players had entered the stands to fight.

“Let me say something before they cut you off because they won’t let us speak into the microphone. They don’t want me to say anything about what’s going on, but this is a disaster,” Gimenez told Fox Sports.

“Please be careful, our families are in the stands, there are little newborn babies. It was a disaster; there was no police, and we had to defend our families. This is the fault of two or three people who had a few too many drinks and don’t know how to drink,” he added.

Uruguay players have entered the stands and a fight has broken out between fans and players pic.twitter.com/XRbte2ibiy

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Colombia played one man short the entire second half after Daniel Muñoz was ejected in first-half stoppage time for picking up two yellow cards in a terse encounter. Colombia were grateful to have a goal advantage thanks to Jefferson Lerma’s strike in the 39th minute. They clung on to that one-goal advantage till full time to book a Copa America final against Lionel Messi’s Argentina.

Colombia have only won the Copa America title once, as hosts in 2001. The win over Uruguay does extend Colombia’s
unbeaten streak to a team record 28 games, one more than from 1992-94 and the longest current streak in men’s international football, according to The Associates Press new agency.

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