Brazil and Uruguay are currently level at 2-2 at full-time in the Copa América 2007 Semi Final at the Stadio José Pachencho Romero, Maracaibo, with the game now going to a penalty shootout to see who goes to the final.

Brazil and Inter Milan defender Maicon opened the scoring, with former Man Utd striker Diego Forlan levelling, but Brazil going into half-time with a 2-1 lead with a strike from former Arsenal forward Julio Baptista. Uruguay took the game to penalties after substitute Sebastián Abreu levelled in the second half.

Both teams came out in the early stages with huge intent, but with Brazil shading the possession in the opening minutes.

Brazil took an early lead when Brazil defender Maicon broke the deadlock in the 13th minute after continuing his run from defence and latching on to a save from Fabián Carini, and volleying home his first-ever goal for his country.

One bank of floodlights in the Stadio José Pachencho Romero failed minutes later, with the referee deciding to stop play and wait for the floodlights to be fixed before recommencing the match.

Diego Forlan almost equalised in the 28th minute after breaking through the Brazilian defence and smashing his shot from 20-yards into the top-corner, with Doni leaping brilliantly to deny Uruguay the leveller.

Uruguay had a string of set-pieces as the half went on, giving Brazil a host of problems in defence, with Alvaro Recoba forcing Doni into another fine diving-save as the equilibrium was recovered.

Maicon and Robinho were working very well together, with virtually every Seleçao move coming from the right-flank with, inevitably, Maicon at the heart of the build-up.

Brazil had a vague penalty call in the 34th minute after Maicon squared the ball to Vagner Love, who went down in front of the goal, but the referee waved the call away.

Recoba’s set-pieces were beginning to find their way through the Brazil defence, and finally the scores were levelled with a wonderful volley from Villarreal CF forward Diego Forlan 15-yards out from goal which flew into Doni’s right corner.

Brazil, against the run of play, retook the lead in the 40th minute after capitalising on one of their few free-kicks, with Maicon yet again involved.

His free-kick from wide was directed into the Uruguay penalty area, with former Arsenal striker Julio Baptista breaking the offside trap to volley the ball home past Carini to make it 2-0.

Despite Uruguay having dominated since the restart after the light failure, Brazil went into half-time in better spirits, but with Uruguay having bossed the match for equal periods of the half.

The second-half saw Uruguay make two changes. Ignacio María González came on for Alvaro Recoba and Sebastián Abreu for Dario Rodríguez, which took some time for the team to settle to, but still Uruguay’s La Celeste had the upper-hand in the match, although it was in no way one-way traffic.

Substitute Sebastián Abreu levelled in the 71st minute, scoring his 16th goal in 31 appearances for Uruguay as Uruguay took the game to the Copa América holders in the second-half.

Jorge Ciro Fucile played the ball to Cristian Gabriel Rodríguez on the goal-line, who managed to keep the ball in play and passed it to Abreu, who struck at close range, deflecting off Doni to make it 2-2.

There was another contentious penalty call from Brazil after substitute Afonso, who came on for Vagner Love in the 80th minute, was brought down by Diego Alfredo Lugano, but yet again the call was waved away by the Colombian referee.

Both sides continued to press as the second-half came to a close, with a penalty shootout looming, both sides became nervous, with Brazil’s Gilberto Silva receiving a booking which means that if Brazil do progress to the final, he will be suspended.

FULL MATCH REPORT BRAZIL V URUGUAY:
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