Manuel Ugarte suffered a serious knee injury in the World Cup match between Uruguay and Spain.

When Álex Baena struck the ball, the shot was as soft as a casual cross. The ball simply slipped through Fernando Muslera's grasp and rolled into the net. In the 42nd minute, as the scoreboard at Estadio Akron flipped, Manuel Ugarte and Lamine Yamal both lay on the edge of the penalty area. The referee didn't stop play, and the Spanish players didn't kick the ball out of bounds. Three minutes later, Ugarte's knee was shattered.

Ugarte challenged Pedri, his studs digging firmly into the turf. His teammate Matías Olivares couldn't stop his momentum, and his entire weight crashed onto Ugarte's outstretched right leg. The knee bent outward, a shirt covered his face, and the stretcher came onto the field.

As the stretcher carried Ugarte off the pitch, the initial €50 million investment on Old Trafford's books also shattered.

In the summer of 2024, Manchester United paid that amount, plus €10 million in add-ons, offering £120,000 weekly wages and a contract until 2029. The deal went sour when Michael Carrick took over the bench in January. Ugarte was completely sidelined, and by late April, media already hinted that a summer clearance was necessary. Just nine days before the World Cup, United was still trying to offload him. Metro quoted a price of £42 million, while Schira said the base price had dropped to €30 million. They asked around, but no one answered.

Now, Jorge Mendes's phone is probably completely silent. An anterior cruciate ligament tear is suspected, meaning 9 to 12 months of recovery. The FIFA Club Protection Program's payout limit is €7.5 million, which covers the estimated €5.5 million in wages for the 9-month injury. But his market value has been wiped clean. In the last five years, Manchester United has suffered 399 injuries and lost £150 million in medical costs, and now they have added another expensive sunk cost.

Old Trafford's financial director can still calculate insurance claims, but the Uruguayan Football Association has no energy left for arithmetic.

The expanded 48-team World Cup was supposed to be a safety net for South American teams. Uruguay finished Group H with only 2 points, drawing with Saudi Arabia and Cape Verde. In three group matches, Muslera made three direct errors leading to goals, setting the worst record for goalkeeper errors leading to goals in a single World Cup since Opta began detailed data collection in 1966. Against Spain, the 39-year-old veteran goalkeeper was substituted at halftime. In the locker room, Marcelo Bielsa personally stripped the final dignity of a veteran who had played in three World Cups.

Darwin Núñez played in six World Cup matches over two tournaments without scoring a single goal. In this decisive match, the entire team managed an expected goals of only 0.20. Spain controlled 67% of the possession, passing the ball like prayer beads, yet needed only six shots to secure victory. In the 5th minute of stoppage time, Facundo Canobbio studded into Pau Cubarsí, receiving a straight red card and shoving the referee as he left the field.

"Two draws, two matches we could and should have won," Bielsa said into Reuters' microphones after the match. When asked what he had left for Uruguayan football in three years, his answer carried the finality of a breakup: "I gave everything I had to Uruguayan football, and in this country where I have worked for three years, I have given my all."

There is an old story that has been enshrined in football for over twenty years. In 2000, Paolo Di Canio, faced with an injured Everton goalkeeper Paul Gerrard, chose to abandon an open goal, caught the ball, and was awarded the FIFA Fair Play Award the following year.

Twenty-six years later on a North American summer, the Spanish players watched Ugarte lying on the turf and sent the ball into Muslera's net. The rulebook didn't say they had to kick it out, and the referee didn't stop play.

The goal was legal, the act ruthless. The referee just waved his hand to signal play to continue.