Uruguay’s Manuel Ugarte was shown two yellow cards but no red in a bizarre incident at Wembley as the referee failed to send off the midfielder during the 1-1 friendly draw with England.
Federico Valverde’s stoppage-time penalty meant England failed to win for only the second time in Tuchel’s 11 matches in charge and conceded for the first time since losing to Senegal in a friendly last June.
Ugarte was initially booked during the second half for clattering into Cole Palmer after the ball had gone.
A few minutes later, the Manchester United midfielder was pictured arguing with referee Sven Jablonski, who brandished another yellow card. Yet it was not followed up with a red, and Ugarte was allowed to continue playing until being substituted soon afterwards by Uruguay manager Marcelo Bielsa.
It was later clarified that Ugarte’s second yellow card had been “rescinded”, although it remains unclear why the card was withdrawn and whether this was communicated to the player.
It was just one mistake in a calamitous night for the referee, who missed an appalling tackle on Phil Foden by Uruguayan defender Ronald Araujo. Foden limped off the field a few minutes later and England manager Thomas Tuchel was furious with the challenge.
England defender Harry Maguire was equally incensed, telling ITV: “You don’t see tackles like that and not get red cards. A couple of months from the World Cup and we’ve got referees allowing tackles like that… It’s disappointing.
“We have to move on and manage the game better and come away with the victory. It was a good work out there, many positives and things to work on as well.”
Maguire was also angry with the penalty decision against England’s goalscorer Ben White in the dying minutes which handed Uruguay a late equaliser.
White was adjudged to have fouled Federico Vinas in the area and a penalty was awarded to Mareclo Bielsa’s side after a VAR check. Real Madrid’s Valverde stepped up to calmly beat England debutant James Trafford from the spot in the 94th minute and the visitors almost won it with a flurry of chances in a frantic finale.
”We had control of the game, they didn’t really get in our box, and then it’s a ridiculous penalty,” Maguire said. “It’s soft. He’s kicked the ball over the bar. Ben just goes to try to block the shot. It’s not a bad tackle, it’s not malicious. It’s part and parcel of defending in the box, there is going to be contact.”
England next play Japan on Tuesday evening, in what will be their final game before Tuchel selects his World Cup squad.
