Maxi Araujo salvaged a point for Uruguay after Saudi Arabia threatened another World Cup shock on a sweltering evening in Miami.
The Saudis beat eventual winners Argentina in their opening game at Qatar 2022 and were on course for another major upset when they led at half-time thanks to Abdulelah Al Amri’s opportunistic strike.
But Uruguay coach Marcelo Bielsa made two changes at the break, with former Liverpool striker Darwin Nunez one of the players sacrificed, and moved captain and Real Madrid star Federico Valverde into a more central role and the game was transformed.
Uruguay dominated the second period but only had one goal to show for it, Araujo firing in with 10 minutes to go.
Uruguay struggle early on as Saudis take control
Uruguay were toothless in a first half in which Saudi Arabia more than held their own.
They did test Saudi goalkeeper Mohammed Al Owais on a couple of occasions, firstly when Araujo turned and whipped in a fourth-minute shot and then, after 29 minutes with Federico Vinas seeing a header repelled.
But that was all they could muster and Saudi Arabia grabbed the opener after 41 minutes when Al Amri poked home after Fernando Muslera could only parry Saud Abdulhamid’s header from Musab Al-Juwayr’s right-wing corner.
It was arguably a deserved lead for Saudi Arabia with Muslera having to make a brilliant save to deny Al Amri four minutes earlier, thrusting out a left hand to keep out his powerful shot.
Bielsa rethink key to Uruguay improvement
Bielsa moved things around at the break and improvement was immediate with Uruguay coming close to a leveller within a minute of the restart, Vinas throwing himself at a cross from the right and forcing Al Owais into a fine stop.
Uruguay substitute Agustin Canobbio then headed wide from a corner and Al Owais pulled off his best stop of the night, diving low to his right to tip Manuel Ugarte’s 20-yard drive on to the left-hand upright.
The Al-Ula goalkeeper denied Valverde from a free-kick before he was finally beaten with 10 minutes to go.
He did well to parry Vinas’ header but could do little with Araujo’s follow-up.
That was to prove Araujo’s final kick of the game as he was immediately hauled off by Bielsa and it almost proved a masterstroke with his replacement, Brian Rodriguez, flashing a piledriver a yard wide of the right-hand post.
Uruguay continued the onslaught on the Saudi Arabia goal but Al Owais was keeping them at bay.
He saved well from Nicolas de la Cruz and then made another stunning stop to tip Valverde’s skimming shot away for a corner.
The stalemate continued the surprising start to Group H with Spain only managing a draw with Cape Verde earlier in the day.
