DARWIN NUNEZ hugged his young son on the field after defending his family from Colombia fans.
Uruguay were beaten 1-0 in a fiery Copa America semi-final before ugly scenes marred the game.
Shortly after being dumped out, players were seen racing to the stands as fights broke out between rival supporters.
Nunez, who is married to Lorena Manas, was in the thick of the action, appearing to trade punches with Colombia fans.
Players revealed afterwards that they were protecting their families and the Liverpool forward was seen consoling his young son on the pitch.
He was visibly emotional after the violent scenes as he held on to the two-year-old, also named Darwin.
Uruguay defender Jose Gimenez said: “It was a disaster. There were no police and we had to defend our families.
“This is because of two or three who have one drink too many.
“A certain sector of the Colombian fans made an avalanche where our loved ones were.”
The Bank of America Stadium in Charlotte was packed with Colombia supporters, who watched a hot-headed contest that featured six yellow cards and one red.
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Crystal Palace star Jefferson Lerma scored the only goal after 39 minutes and Colombia held on despite playing the second half with 10 men following Daniel Munoz’s dismissal.
Uruguayan outlet El Pais said some of midfielder Manuel Ugarte’s relatives were hurt in the incident.
Security eventually intervened and separated Nunez, Gimenez and Ronald Araujo from the rival fans.
According to journalist Favian Renkel, Uruguay players’ families were escorted out of the stadium in a separate exit to ensure their safety.
Atletico Madrid defender Giminez fumed at the lack of security around the players’ family members.
He said: “Let me say something before they cut you off because they won’t let us speak into the microphone.
“They don’t want me to say anything about what’s going on but this is a disaster.
“Please be careful, our families are in the stands, there are little newborn babies.”
Uruguay stopper Sergio Rochet defended his team-mates’ actions, saying: “This could have been avoided.
“I thought this came about from where the families of players was sitting.
“When you see your family there there… we wanted to take our families out of there.”
Uruguay boss Marcelo Bielsa didn’t see the unfortunate scenes as he had already made his to the dressing room.
He said: “I thought that the incident ended with some argument on the midfield and when I saw that happening I went to the locker room.
“I thought that they were thanking the fans for their support.
“But then I learned that there were some problems over there, unfortunately.”
Colombia play Argentina in the final, which will take place in the early hours of Sunday morning.
