Christian Stuani scored the only goal of the game as Uruguay beat Northern Ireland 1-0 in Montevideo as part of their preparations for the World Cup.

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Despite only managing to find the back of the net on one occasion, the hosts were dominant from the first whistle against Michael O'Neill's side, who failed to register a shot on target until stoppage time in the second half.

Uruguay could have been ahead in just the sixth minute, but Gaston Ramirez sent his effort over the crossbar after finding space inside the box.

Ramirez came close to finding the bottom corner when his powerful strike drifted just wide of the target, before Diego Forlan almost broke the deadlock at the end of a goalless first half with a long-range shot which forced Roy Carroll into a good save.

As Northern Ireland continued to struggle to cause the hosts any problems, the visitors were forced to breathe another sigh of relief when Diego Lugano headed wide from just a few yards out.

Uruguay finally found the goal their play deserved in the 65th minute thanks to Stuani, who was left with the simple task of converting from close range after Edinson Cavani had delivered the perfect cross from the left side of the box.

The home side pushed for more goals in the latter stages of the match, with substitute Abel Hernandez just missing the target with a glancing header, but it proved to be a comfortable evening for Oscar Tabarez and his players ahead of their campaign in Brazil.