Congrats to Chile..............which has the southern most point in South America............on making the semis................

Chile end Copa America quarterfinal curse by defeating feisty Uruguay

SANTIAGO, Chile -- And so Chile did not fall foul of the Copa America curse of the quarterfinals. In four of the past five tournaments the hosts have been eliminated at this stage -- three times by Uruguay. This time, though, there were no slip ups, and Uruguay were beaten 1-0.

Ninety-nine years ago they kicked off the first Copa America -- against Uruguay -- and they are still looking for their first tournament win. Their golden generation is at its peak. They are at home, with all of their games taking place in Santiago's National Stadium. But for a long time on Wednesday night, it was looking like a case of "if not now, when?" for the Chilean team.

A win over Uruguay would put them through to face either Bolivia or Peru, the weakest teams still alive, in the semifinal. And they played a Uruguay side down to 10 men soon after the hour, when Edinson Cavani, perhaps not in an adequate state of mind after his father's involvement in a traffic accident, got himself sent off.

But still the goal would not go in. And with no extra time, the clock was ticking remorselessly toward the lottery of the penalty shootout. The doubts were creeping in. If Chile cannot win some silverware under these conditions, then when will it ever happen?

Of course, they could hardly have picked worse opponents for such an occasion. Uruguay's tiny group of fans, clustered behind one of the goals, made sure they were heard, and the players were also not overawed by the occasion. Indeed, the first few minutes were played entirely in the Chilean half. Uruguay pressed from the start. Whenever they got a chance in the match they would send three men up to stall the Chilean build up at its source.

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The bulk of the action, though, took place close to the Uruguay goal. Chile found their rhythm and began zipping their high tempo moves across the Santiago turf. Playmaker Jorge Valdivia was always likely to be a key man. He cleverly moved into the right channel to find space, stretching a Uruguay back line that had to look out for Alexis Sanchez on the other flank. Valdivia looked for the forward runs of attacking right back Mauricio Isla as Chile went gunning for Uruguay left back Jorge Fucile, brought into the side because of the suspension of first choice Alvaro Pereira, and looking rusty.

But every time Chile got behind the opposing defence, Uruguay centre-backs Diego Godin and Jose Maria Gimenez kept clearing the crosses. Arturo Vidal tested Fernando Muslera in the Uruguay goal with some long-range shots, but, in such a tight game there was a glaring lack of Chilean physical presence in the penalty box.

Then came the substitutions made by Chile coach Jorge Sampaoli. By this time, Uruguay had already lost Cavani. Chile needed to gamble. And so on came big centre-forward Mauricio Pinilla for Eduardo Vargas. And on came Matias Fernandez to add some midfield thrust. But this did not mean the removal of Valdivia, who might have seemed the natural candidate to come off, especially as the temperamental playmaker had picked up a yellow card. Instead Sampaoli sacrificed central midfielder Marcelo Diaz. He could rely on the lung power of Charles Aranguiz to cover the space in front of the centre-backs.

Sampaoli was rewarded for his boldness with the vital goal. First, as the cross came in from the left, Muslera was put under pressure from the physical challenge of Pinilla and Vidal. He could only punch the ball out to the edge of the area. It came to Valdivia. Many would have panicked in such a situation and taken a rash shot. Valdivia appraised the moment, and rolled square for the better-placed Isla to fire home a low shot.

Chile had won -- and that question, "if not now, when?" now stands ready to be dragged up once more for Monday's semifinal.

Tim Vickery is an English journalist who has been based in Brazil for the past 20 years. He is the South American football correspondent for the BBC Sport.