Copa America Venezuela 2007

Some Copa America players changing clubs today before their big semifinal game.

• Gabriel Milito, Argentina. One of the most impressive defenders in Copa America is moving from Zaragoza to Barcelona. Barça will be paying $23.4 million for the Argentine defender who joins Leoniel Messi but leaves his brother Diego Milito behind.
• Andres Guardado, Mexico. The international midfielder moves from club Atlas to Deportivo La Coruña for $9.5 million. PSV Eindhoven had a deal for $6.1 million. Guardado joins his countryman Rafael Marquez in the Spanish La Liga.

Andres Guardado and his wife Briana Morales are headed to La Coruña

Crazy girls aren’t the only ones obsessed with Barcelona striker Messi. Hugo Chavez Jr, son of Venezuela’s president is a huge Messi fan and went out of his way to meet the young star and get a picture with him.

Messi scored his first goal in Copa America yesterday against Peru. He has played really well, but nowhere near the level of what I claim are the top three in Copa America Venezuela - Juan Roman Riquelme, Nery Castillo and Robinho.

This one is hilarious. A girl so obsessed with Messi, she jumps down from the stands in front of Messi to give him a kiss.

In Venezuela it rains girls on Messi.

Messi-mania is ridiculous.

Now in an animated gif with English subtitles:

Click to view/Pulse para ver

It was bound to happen. Peru delayed the inevitable as much as possible with a correct approach and a well defended first half but the lack of attack eventually did them in. Oh yeah, and that Riquelme guy had a thing or two to do with it.

Riquelme was brilliant and again led his team to victory and did so with exquisite quality plays. An early second half goal opened the flood gates and the 2-0 was another Riquelme masterpiece giving Leo Messi an easy score. Messi gave a great effort in the first half with some exciting slalom style runs, but he always tries to make one dribble too many. Riquelme had the solution for the young kid, give him a through ball that required no dribbling, just a chip home to score. Mascherano later got in on the action and Juan Roman Riquelme again came through in the very end to wrap up the scoring.

A game Argentina very much deserved to win after controlling most of the possession and controlling the tempo of the game. Peru failed up front without Farfan, as expected. They defended very well actually but were did in by their lack of possession up front. Mariño played good although not great and Paolo Guerrero battled a lot but had to leave with an injury. Pizarro did a lot of nothing, ending a disppointing personal performance in the Copa America for the new Chelsea striker.

Argentina are now through and face Mexico next. A match up with a lot of history and emotions. Coco Basile will not have to tinker a lot and will basically spend the next couple of days debating over whether to start Diego Milito or Carlos Tevez at forward. Either way, as long as Riquelme is in the lineup the Che fans can breathe easily.

The Star

Juan Roman Riquelme. M, Argentina.
Still the face of Copa America 2007 so far. Robinho and Nery Castillo both tried to overshadow the Argentine midfielder but he only improved in the quarterfinals.

The Ugly Duckling

Claudio Pizarro. F, Peru.
A horrible tournament for Pizarro. The team captain was only able to make his mark with two set piece goals against Bolivia. At least he was smart enough to get his contract before the Copa America.

No rematches today and both games look exciting on paper.

Mexico vs Paraguay will match up a resurgent Mexico with a youthful Paraguay. Mexico comes into Copa America after a disappointing Gold Cup. Led by an up and coming superstar in Nery Castillo and a sprinkling of international veterans they face a very feisty Paraguay that no longer relies on Chilavert and their defense since they have players of the caliber of Roque Sante Cruz and Salvador Cabañas.

A Peru without Farfan does not stand a chance at beating Argentina but it will open all types of opportunity for Milito, Messi and company to showcase their talents.

Mexico vs Paraguay. 4pm EDT Univision/GolTV
Mexico - 2.10
Paraguay - 3.15
Tie - 3.25

Argentina vs Peru. 6:30pm EDT Univision/GolTV
Argentina - 1.20
Peru - 10.50
Tie - 5.75

No games on Telefutura today for a change as Univision has picked up both games. Mexico always plays on Univision anyways because the TV ratings for El Tri are always sky high.
For those who are joining Copa America late, note that ESPN and Fox Sports have no coverage of Copa America. If you want to watch it in English tune into GolTV.

Any chance that Peru had of beating Argentina went out the window when Farfan was declared out of the Copa America after getting injured against Bolivia. He was subbed during halftime of the game and left in an ambulance although the injury wasn’t all that serious, but unfortunately serious enough to keep him out of the remainder of the tournament.

The PSV Eindhoven striker had been the best player for Peru with the possible exception of Juan Carlos Mariño. Without Jefferson Farfan in the lineup Peru will most likely rely on set pieces and a continued resurgance of Pizarro to score on Argentina and Abbondanzieri.

Good luck Peru. You’ll need plenty of it.

FC Barcelona and Real Zaragoza are finalizing details that would send Argentina’s Gaby Milito to play along Messi at Barcelona. Barcelona have gone on a signing spree after losing La Liga’s championship to rivals Real Madrid. Milito will play alongside Puyol and Marquez at Barcelona.

To clear up some room in the roster FC Barcelona are shipping out the Argentinian forward Maxi Lopez on loan to Sporting Lisboa. Maxi Lopez turned out to be a huge bust for Barcelona after bringing him over from River Plate in 2005.

A lot of distractions in Argentina’s hotel with G. Milito and Tevez’s transfers. Their biggest problem in the quarterfinals will be overconfidence and lack of focus.

We have a day off today. Tomorrow begins Round 2 and the quarterfinals kicking off with Venezuela vs Uruguay at 6PM EDT (Univision/GolTV) and then Brazil vs Chile at 8:30PM EDT (Telefutura/GolTV).

By not winning their group, Brazil screws up Venezuela’s plans. The hosts were hoping to have a path to the finals clear of Argentina and Brazil but it was not to be. Luckily for all, this sets up the likely possibility of a classic Argentina vs Brazil in the Copa America final. I’m sure the media and their advertisers are excited at the prospects.

Top Goals through Round 1

1- Nery Castillo. Mexico 1 - 0 Brazil.

2- Juan Carlos Mariño. Peru 2 - 0 Uruguay.

3- Javier Mascherano. Argentina 1 - 0 Paraguay.

Best team: Argentina.
Nobody can argue otherwise.

Surprise player: Humbero Suazo. FW, Chile.
I never heard of the former Colo Colo striker until this tournament and he has left quite an impression with an amazing performance against Ecuador followed by good games vs Mexico and Brazil. He has signed with Mexican side Monterrey, but look for him to end up in Europe before not too long.

Best goalkeeper: Guillermo Ochoa, Mexico.
An amazing game against Brazil and played two games keeping a clean sheet in both.
If Ochoa was #1, then Paraguay’s Aldo Bobavilla deserves a #1b.

Best defender: Rafa Marquez, Mexico.
A poor first round of play for most defenders leading to lots of goals when the games counted but Rafa was solid and Mexico’s defense was stingy even without Pavel Pardo.

Best midfielder: Juan Roman Riquelme, Argentina.
Without a doubt the face of the tournament so far. Riquelme quit the national team a year ago and has made a return in grand fashion playing only two games but impressive in both.

Best forward: Humberto Suazo, Chile.
Yes, I know you wanted me to say Robinho and his 4 goals, but listen up. Two of those came by way of PK - and horribly struck PKs at that. Not only that but Robinho really had one great game against Ecuador and then two average performances. El Chupete Suazo has been the most aggressive and best performing striker. I would put Robinho second, and Crespo third. Messi deserves no mention because he might be a fan favorite but did very little in comparison to the guys mentioned above.

Best goal: Nery Castillo, 1-0 Mexico vs Brazil.
No brainer. There is a reason it is the most clicked posts on this blog. An impressive goal by the Olympiakos star.