rouse the crowd, leading to a brief cacophony of vuvuzela sounds.

Forlan, who forced an excellent first-half save from Hugo Lloris after cutting inside and shooting from 20 yards, was impressive for Uruguay.

The Atletico Madrid striker was alive with craft and invention, but he wasted a decent opening with 20 minutes left, shooting wide from 16 yards after a decent lay-off from Luis Suarez.

Striker Suarez, with 49 goals in 48 games for Ajax last season, was all too frequently caught offside, while playmaker Ignacio Gonzalez was a peripheral figure.

Uruguay coach Javier Aguirre brought on the highly rated Lodeiro in place of Gonzalez shortly after the restart, and Domenech replaced Gourcuff with Malouda.

Lodeiro's only mark on the game was arguably made on the ankle of Bakari Sagna as the Uruguayanpicked up his second booking with 10 minutes to go.

Henry almost produced a moment of late drama with a header that glanced across the face of goal, and had an appeal for a handball against Mauricio Victorino turned down as Uruguay held on.