OMNISPORT

PHILADELPHIA — If you hadn't just watched Uruguay's stunning 1-0 loss to Venezuela, and had no idea about the personal nightmare Edinson Cavani just endured, you might have taken the smile on his face for the look of a happy man.

The reality is Cavani was smiling to keep from crying.

The Paris Saint-Germain striker came into this Copa America expected to carry the goal-scoring burden left by Luis Suarez's hamstring injury, but Cavani failed to deliver. He found himself in position to score on multiple occasions against Venezuela, but never could put the ball in the net.

None of those missed chances was worse than the late-game look he worked to create with a clever cut-back move that left him with a clear look at goal from close range. It was the kind of chance a striker of his pedigree is paid millions to score, but rather than deliver the last-ditch equalizer, Cavani pushed the chance wide, leaving the heavily pro-Uruguayan crowd at Lincoln Financial Field stunned.

Cavani nearly had a chance at  redemption in the 90th minute, but he reacted too late to a loose ball in front of goal, giving Venezuelan goalkeeper Dani Hernandez the chance to smother it.

Four minutes later, the whistle blew on a second straight Uruguay loss, and two hours later a Mexico win over Jamaica served to eliminate the Uruguayans from Copa America in the group stage for the first time in Oscar Tabarez's tenure as coach.

Luis Suarez's sideline tantrum at having missed out on playing grabbed the headlines, but Cavani's missed chances — especially that worst of his misses — told the real story of a missed opportunity for the heavily favored Uruguayans, and for Cavani, who saw another Copa America end in forgettable fashion.

"I’ll tell you it’s one of the worst moments in my career,” Cavani said after the match. “Thinking about it after the game, it was one of the few moments that really filled me with sadness. The truth is it hit me very hard, thinking about that miss with just a few minutes left in the match, that could have given us a chance and some life for the rest of the tournament.

“I have to move on, I have to move forward,” Cavani said. “It’s part of life, not just soccer, and I think this group is prepared to move forward and ready to keep showing its a family and not just a soccer team."

Cavani flashed his trademark smile on occasion, and took deep breaths as he tried to put a brave face on a devastating moment. He didn't shy away from the media, or refuse to talk, choosing to answer a steady stream of questions about the loss, and about his own missed opportunities.

"I cut inside and I see the post so clearly and was so sure when I hit it with the inside of my foot that I was sure it was going in,” Cavani said of his worst miss. “That’s why I say it’s one of the saddest moments in my career. It will take time to get over this, but we have to move forward because there is a lot to look forward to."

Thursday's loss, and the Copa America as a whole, has become one major failure for Cavani, who entered this summer with a chance to showcase his quality to potential club suitors, as well as currentl employer Paris Saint-Germain, which must figure out if he really is the man to lead its attack in the post-Zlatan Ibrahimovic era.

Cavani's showing at Copa America can't give PSG much confidence in building its attack around him, and you have to wonder how the transfer market will weigh Cavani's recent failings.

This isn't the first tournament Cavani has walked away from having failed in Luis Suarez's absence. In the 2015 Copa America, with Suarez suspended, Cavani failed to register a goal in four matches, and he saw his tournament end after drawing a red card in a quarterfinal loss to Chile. The red card play, an unjust ejection that came after Jara stuck his hand in Cavani's rear, then proceeded to fall after a light slap by Cavani, left Cavani looking like symphatetic figure as he exited the tournament, but served to distract from the fact he failed to score a goal.

Suarez's return from his lengthy suspension for his infamous biting incident at the 2014 World Cup coincided with a return to form for Cavani, who scored in each of Uruguay's World Cup qualifiers in March. Cavani and Suarez figured to be one of the premier tandems at the Copa America Centenario before Suarez suffered a hamstring injury in the Copa Del Rey final, leaving Cavani to once again try to carry the Uruguay attack without his best teammate.

For the second straight time, Cavani failed, and for another Copa America, Uruguay was left well short of a title.

“For us, it’s a great disappointment, for us and for a country that was surely expecting something different from us,” Cavani said. “We will try to hit it hard and work hard and try to reverse this situation.”