Uruguay defender Diego Godin (L) competes for the ball against Mexico's Hector Herrera. (Photo : Getty Images)
World no. 9 national squad Uruguay (0-2-0, 0 points) will try to end its 2016 Copa América Centenario stint on a high note despite elimination from the knockout round as they meet world no. 46 team Jamaica at the Levi's Stadium in Santa Clara on Monday, June 13.
Uruguay's campaign in this summer's Copa had been highly disappointing as they entered the tournament with high hopes of at least reaching the semifinals with Barcelona striker Luis Suárez and Paris Saint-Germain forward Edinson Cavani set to lead the way.
However, not everything went according to plan as Suárez suffered a hamstring injury during Barça's 2-0 Copa del Rey final win over Sevilla late last month, which proved to be not enough time for this term's top goal scorer in La Liga to recuperate.
His absence proved to be crucial for head coach Óscar Tabárez's side as the team had trouble scoring goals with their opponents' defenses concentrated solely on Cavani.
Their last game was a 0-1 loss to lowly team Venezuela, ranked 77th in the world by FIFA, as they were officially eliminated from the next round, as per ESPN.
La Vinotinto got their goal from West Brom forward Salomón Rondón at the 36th minute. Los Charrúas tried to fight back in the second half, but their effort was just short without Suárez's lead.
Meanwhile, another frustrated squad, Jamaica, also lost its second game in a row in the group stage, dropping a 0-2 decision to the mighty Mexico national team at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena on Thursday, SkySports reported.
Mexican strikers Javier Hernandez and Oribe Peralta netted the goals for El Tri during the contest as head coach Winfried Schäfer's Reggae Boyz were unable to answer with anything from their end.
Like Uruguay, Jamaica is also eliminated to advancing in the quarterfinals, but they would also like to leave the continental US a winner in this summer's Copa competitions.
The predicted result is a close 1-0 win for Uruguay.
Uruguay starting lineup (4-4-2 formation): Muslera; Pereira, Gimenez, Godin, Silva; Sanchez, Arevalo, Gonzalez, Ramirez; Stuani, Cavani
Jamaica starting lineup (4-4-2 formation): Blake; Mariappa, Morgan, Taylor, Watson; McCleary, Williamson, Hector, McAnuff; Barnes, Donaldson
