Brazil played well in this competition, losing their three pool matches but giving their opponents a good fight (Canada 1-3, Trinidad & Tobago 2-5 then Chile 0-5). They were unlucky in their cross-over game, only losing in the final minutes to Mexico (2-3) after leading during most of the match.  Uruguay lost all their matches by hefty margins but came into this classification match well determined to give a hard time to their South American rivals.

Brazil took control of the tempo of play and were early on the scoreboard by Lucas Paixão, exploiting well an hesitation of the defense. Uruguay reacted immediately, pushing forward and surprising Brazil to force a penalty-corner, converted by Maximiliano Tixe.

After this burst of activity, play settled in midfield, slowing a notch. Brazil had more possession but could not challenge dangerously the Uruguayan circle and half-time was reached on a tied score 1-1.

Fatigue of five high-level matches in a week started to creep up in second period, and play became unsettled, with unforced errors and passes going astray on both sides. Brazil missed a couple of chances but their captain Ernst Rost Onnes was on target on a penalty-corner in the 52nd minute, slotting a low flick out of reach of Jose Lasa in the Uruguayan goal.

With time passing, tempers flared a tad, with some rough tackles as a result of fatigue and frustration. Uruguay had a late surge, forced a penalty-corner with five minutes to go in the period and Hubertus Reinbach in the Brazilian goal seemed surprised by Juan Canessa’s low flick directly to the centre of goal, leveling the score and setting the stage for a very animated end of regular time.

With the tied score, match was to be decided by shoot-outs, for the first time in this competition. Hubertus Reinbach saved the first 4 Uruguayan attempts and, after some controversy, Brazil went on to win the shoot-out competition to grab 7th place, leaving Uruguay upset and dejected with the wooden spoon.