The cup is actually in Chile......................

SANTIAGO, Chile -- Chile's hopes of winning its home Copa America were kept alive Wednesday thanks to a 1-0 win over defending champion Uruguay.

Defender Mauricio Isla scored in the 81st minute to lead the hosts to the semifinals of the South American tournament.

Chile dominated the game from the start and Isla finally broke through with a low shot from just inside the area after a pass by Jorge Valdivia. That advanced his team to the tournament's semifinals for the first time in 16 years.

Chile will play the winner of Thursday's match between Bolivia and Peru. In the other quarterfinal matchups, Argentina plays Colombia, and Brazil faces Paraguay.

Uruguay, trying to make it to the semifinals for the sixth straight time, played a man down from the 63rd minute. Star striker Edinson Cavani was shown his second yellow card of the match for apparently slapping a Chilean player away from the ball. His first yellow was for complaining to the linesman in the 30th minute.

Uruguay lost another player in the 88th when defender Jorge Fucile also was sent off for a second yellow. Uruguayan players loudly complained to Brazilian referee Sandro Ricci and his linesman, and the game was stopped for nearly five minutes. Uruguay coach Oscar Tabarez also was ejected.

Uruguay's Edinson Cavani received a red card in the 63rd minute in his team's 1-0 loss to Chile.

The Uruguayans were already without Barcelona striker Luis Suarez, banned from the tournament for biting Italian Giorgio Chiellini at the World Cup last year.

Chile is trying to win the Copa America for the first time and is considered one of the main favorites thanks to a "golden generation" of players that include Valdivia, Arturo Vidal, Alexis Sanchez and Claudio Bravo. It reached the last 16 at the World Cup in Brazil last year, being eliminated by the hosts on penalty kicks.

Chile hadn't made it to the Copa America semifinals since the 1999 tournament in Paraguay.