Not only did Uruguay suffer the elimination of Colombia from the Copa América on Thursday night, the 11th, but its captain, D'Avunyunis, faced a battle to defend his family. After the match, a near-uncontrollable clash erupted in the stands with Colombian fans.
The round of the quarterfinals has long been in the air, with players from both sides exchanging yellow cards on the field and Colombian defender Daniel Montrose even getting a red card for ejection. The Uruguayan players, led by Dauniunis, had a heated confrontation with fans in the stands. Television footage showed the Uruguayan players being provoked by the fans, and D'Avunyunis stepped up to the plate, unfortunately sustaining a head injury. Shortly afterward, police intervened in the chaos.
Colombian fans insulted and harassed the Uruguayan players and their families, the players rushed forward to protect their families, but the Colombian fans prevented them from leaving the stands and a physical altercation ensued. In the midst of this chaos, D'Avignones insisted on guarding his family in the stands. CONCACAF strongly condemned the incident, but no further action was taken.
Uruguayan captain Jose Kiwanis defended his teammates, noting that the players were protecting their families with babies in their hands: it was a disaster because there were no police present and we had to protect the families ourselves, and it was a couple of drunken troublemakers who started the mess.
