Darwin Nunez and several teammates entered the stands and became embroiled in a brawl with Colombia fans inside Bank of America Stadium after Uruguay’s heated 1-0 loss in the Copa America semifinals Wednesday.

Nunez, in particular, appeared incensed as he punched at least one fan while the crowd hurled beverages and debris at the Uruguayan players.

Scuffles between the two sets of fans had already broken out before the players arrived on the scene. The vast majority of the 70,000 people in attendance were supporting Colombia.

Uruguay defender Jose Gimenez said the players were trying to defend their family members in the crowd.

“Let me say something before they cut you off because they won’t let us speak into the microphone, they don’t want me to say anything about what’s going on, but this is a disaster,” Gimenez said on the official broadcast, according to ESPN. “Please be careful, our families are in the stands, there are little newborn babies. It was a disaster; there was no police, and we had to defend our families.

“This is the fault of two or three people who had a few too many drinks and don’t know how to drink.”

Roughly 100 Uruguayan fans and federation staff members remained on the field after police restored order and the Colombian supporters had left the stadium, according to Steve Reed of The Associated Press.

Uruguay is scheduled to play Canada in the tournament’s third-place game Saturday.



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