Players of Uruguay celebrate with their trophy during the awarding ceremony of the 2018 China Cup International Football Championship in Nanning, capital of south China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, March 26, 2018. Uruguay won the final by 1-0 against Wales and claimed the title of the event. (Xinhua/Cao Can)
Edinson Cavani's goal in the second half helped Uruguay beat Wales to claim the title of the second edition of China Cup International Football Championship on Monday.
"It was a tough match. I'm very satisfied with the result and I think that we can even get better if we didn't suffer from jet lag or injuries. I think the result was very satisfactory," said Uruguay coach Oscar Tabarez.
Wales were buoyed by a 6-0 victory over China while Uruguay were fresh from a 2-0 win over the Czech Republic.
Uruguay almost took a dream start just 3 minutes into the game as Luis Suarez's shot on Nahitan Nandez cross smacked the upright.
Uruguay were dealt a blow on 8 minutes when Jose Gimenez was injured in a challenge and was replaced by Sebastian Coates.
Inter Milan's midfielder Matias Vecino of Uruguay also fired at the edge of box from a looped pass but only saw his attempt whistle past the post.
Suarez squandered a golden opportunity on 32 minutes when Ashley Williams's wayward backpass sent him clear, but the Barca hitman rattled the woodwork again with goalkeeper Wayne Hennessey well beaten.
Uruguay continued to create real chances as Cavani cut inside and unleashed a missile to force a one-hand save out of Hennessey.
Wales reacted quickly one minute later as Andy King hit a volley while Fernando Muslera flew to parry it away.
Muslera performed heroically again on the stroke of halftime as he denied Gareth Bale's twisting header.
Uruguay broke the deadlock just 4 minutes after the restart when Cristian Rodriguez sprinted down the left and expertly squared for Cavani who scored a stunning bicycle kick in the first fixture to finish off from close range.
Cavani should've bagged a brace 3 minutes later but he surprisingly missed Guillermo Valera's cross.
Wales started to besiege their opponents after that but were toothless to turn the game around. Suarez was sent clear in the dying minute but the Welsh defender sprinted back to make a decisive tackle.
