Uruguay were thrashed 5-1 by the United States in an international friendly in Tampa on Tuesday evening
Tottenham midfielder Rodrigo Bentancur was shown a straight red card in Uruguay's embarrassing 5-1 capitulation at the hands of the United States on Tuesday night.
The Spurs maestro was already on a booking when he made the strong challenge on USMNT midfielder Sebastian Berhalter. Berhalter required treatment and the force of the tackle was notably audible during the TV broadcast.
Guatemalan referee Julio Cesar de Jesus Luna Guzman was quickly surrounded by a host of United States players including former Arsenal striker Folarin Balogun, who began waving an imaginary card in a bid to get Bentancur sent off.
Following some deliberation, Guzman then showed Bentancur red and sent the former Juventus man for an early bath.
Uruguay were already 4-1 down at the time following first-half goals from Berhalter, Alex Freeman (two) and Diego Luna.
To compound Uruguay's misery, the hosts then added a fifth just four minutes after Bentancur's dismissal through Lyon's Tanner Tessmann.
After the game, the Uruguayan media hit out at the national team's torrid display in Tampa, claiming Marcelo Bielsa's side are in crisis ahead of next summer's World Cup finals.
Depending on respective governing bodies, in this case CONMEBOL, red cards in international friendlies can lead to suspensions in future friendlies.
It's currently unclear whether Bentancur will serve a ban following his dismissal in Florida, though he will be available for this weekend's North London Derby against Arsenal.
Former Leeds boss Bielsa took responsibility for the defeat during his post-match press conference, stating: "Obviously, our team played with players who play more frequently against players who don't play as frequently in the United States and the differences were what they were, what you saw.
"So, what's clear is my management of a team that was outplayed, as Uruguay was today. I don't see or feel that there's any need to make an individual or collective complaint and not having that feeling only increases my share of the responsibility, which in this case is all of it."
Uruguay have already booked their ticket to the United States, Canada and Mexico next summer after finishing fourth in South America's World Cup qualification standings.
They won seven of their 18 games, also drawing seven and losing four times to finish ahead of Brazil.
Bentancur's side have not performed well in recent times though, drawing 0-0 with Mexico, scraping past Uzbekistan after narrowly pipping the Dominican Republic 1-0.