The 'Bielseada' makes its presence felt again: Uruguay drew 2-2 with Cape Verde and complicated its qualification for the Round of 32

As a contemporary football expert once said: "For me, Bielsa needs to pull off his 'Bielsa move'"; and it has already happened twice. Uruguay not only drew 1-1 with Saudi Arabia in their debut, but now they also equaled, this time 2-2, against what was initially considered the most accessible rival in Group H: Cape Verde.

The first minutes of the match were marked by a slight dominance of La Celeste in possession, which would not translate into clear chances, and a friction-filled game that included two early yellow cards, one for each side. After the second of these, a foul by Rodrigo Bentacur on Telmo Arcanjo in the midfield, Kevin Pina would take a low free kick that would end up going through the middle of a poorly coordinated wall made up of Maximiliano Araújo and Federico Viñas to score the unexpected 1-0 for the Africans, the first in their history in World Cups.

Although the players directed by Marcelo Bielsa would try to reduce the deficit, for several minutes they would not significantly breach the defense of a Cape Verde that would have a few promising approaches to extend the lead, but they would also not be precise in their finishing.

When it seemed that the match would go to halftime without further incidents, in the 43rd minute Uruguay would equalize: from the left flank Federico Valverde would send a cross to Bentacur, who would hit the post with his header, completely leaving Vozinha off balance, who would watch as Araújo, with the goal at his mercy, would dive in to score the 1-1.

On the African side, this goal brought some controversy, as at the moment of the play Arcanjo was lying on the ground due to an alleged injury, but referee Espen Eskås would not stop the game.

Putting this aside, the Uruguayan momentum would not end there. In the last minute of added time, the South Americans would turn the game around. Manuel Ugarte would cross for Arújo, who with a header would leave it for Agustín Canobbio, who only had to push it in to make it 2-1 temporarily.

In the second half, the match would enter a tense calm for an extended period and would again reach the unexpected: a new goal from Cape Verde. In the 60th minute, after a throw-in by Juan Sanabria, Mathías Olivera would make a glaring mistake by sending it to the middle when he had no teammates nearby. Taking advantage of the gift, the recently substituted Hélio Varela would anticipate a Fernando Muslera who would come out poorly to clear and would score the 2-2.

Moments later, just before the second cooling break, the Uruguayan team would once again take the lead on the scoreboard thanks to Aráujo, who would capitalize on a childish mistake by Vozinha on the line, but would be ruled out for an offside earlier in the play.

Although in the final stretch the Charrúas would come close to the third goal several times, between Vozinha's saves, the clearances from the defense, and a bit of luck, the Cape Verdeans, who would even have their own opportunities, would manage to hold on and achieve another impressive result: a new draw against a world champion.

After this draw, Uruguay will play for their lives against Spain next Friday, June 26 at the AKRON Stadium in Guadalajara to at least finish among the best third-placed teams and qualify for the next phase. Meanwhile, Cape Verde will try to continue making history against Saudi Arabia on the same day and at the same time at the NRG Stadium in Houston.