Defending champion Uruguay survived the surprising challenge of a speedy Jamaican squad to win their 2015 Copa America opener, 1-0, at the Estadio Regional de Antofagasta in Antofagasta, Chile on June 13.
Playing without superstar striker Luis Suárez due to a nine-game international suspension, La Celeste struggled and barely managed to overcome the brave dare of invited team Jamaica bannered by forwards Darren Mattocks, Giles Barnes, and midfielder Jobi McAnuff, as per The Guardian.
But it was Atlético Madrid left-winger Cristian Rodriguez who calmly left-footed the lone goal for Uruguay during the 52nd minute from a free kick that Jose Maria Gimenez headed towards him.
Óscar Tabárez's admitted that his boys were surprised by the speed and organization showed by Winfried Schäfer's wards, especially in the first half when the Reggae Boyz was able to hang with the perennial contenders with quick and adept counterattacks.
"We knew it wasn't going to be easy," Tabárez told reporters during the post-match interview. "There were things that didn't work well."
Indeed, Uruguay was fortunate to escape with this win against a highly impressive Jamaican effort. It may be a sign of things to come in this year's summer tournament as highly-touted Mexico went into a scoreless draw with unheralded Bolivia on Friday.
Jamaica almost knotted the count three times after Rodriguez's goal, but none of them found the net.
Two minutes after being down by one point, Vancouver Whitecaps' Mattocks faced Uruguayan goalie Fernando Muslera one-on-one but fumbled the attempt, via Bleacher Report.
Then forward Deshorn Brown and defender Kemar Michael Lawrence had their chances during the 80th and 85th-minute marks respectively, but could not convert.