Argentina 4 - 0 Peru

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.

Nery Castillo

Now we’ve already heard from Olympiakos, saying their striker Nery Castillo is not for sale. Somehow I have a hard time believing Nery will be going back to Greece after Copa America. A lot of goals, a lot of speed and too much great play for him not to get bids from the big European powerhouses. He may not be for sale but everybody has a price.

Football Manager, the popular football sim game has his value tagged at $7 million (approx 5 million euro or 3.5 million pound sterling). That seems pretty darn cheap and expect to see that price skyrocket. BTW, if you’re a lazy footy executive, the contact page for Olympiakos is here.

The new star of Mexico. So long Borghetti.

Mexico 6 - 0 Paraguay

It rained. Rained goals.

Mexico wasted no time in capitalizing off of Paraguay’s numerous errors to win in dominating fashion.

Nery Castillo murdered Paraguay.

Two minutes into the game Caceres does his best Jonathan Bornstein impersonation making a sloppy and amateurish back pass. Nery sprints and picks up the ball before the keeper can get there and Bobavilla can’t avoid the takedown. Penalty for Mexico. Red card for Bobavilla. The Guarani coach Gerardo Martino sends in their third goalkeeper but he stood no chance against Nery on the penalty kick. Mexico 1 - Paraguay 0. A difficult start for Paraguay.

It would only get worse for them.

Playing a man down there was tons of space on defense and this was only exacerbated because Caceres and Barreto both played terrible. Nery was unselfish giving his teammates three scores - of which only one was properly finished (another was erroneously called an offsides, the other was missed horribly wide by Correa). The good karma would return back to Nery as he received a lob pass which he elegantly nailed for the 3-0. It was halftime in the game, but fulltime for Paraguay’s hopes of winning La Copa.

The second half brought some changes to both teams. Nery going out with a small injury and Paraguay making tactical changes, as only Cardozo was a threat to score early on - not Roque Santa Cruz nor Cabañas. The Paraguayans were more organized in the second half, and actually managed to look like professionals and not kids playing after school. Barretto and Santa Cruz both had great chances to score but their attacking spirit was more spiritual than anything. They would never have a chance to really get back into this game.

Paraguay is a completely different team from several years back. A casual fan who hasn’t seen any of their games lately might keep thinking this is a defensive powerhouse, relying on counterattacks and long balls to score. Gone are those days. Because gone are Chilavert and Gamarra, a tough as nails keeper and a world class defender. The team now relies on a more open attack because their defense isn’t a shadow of what it once was. We saw this today. Of course, it never helps when you go down a man - and a goal - two minutes into a game, but the old Paraguay wouldn’t let that be. A sad end of the tournament for them and for Bobavilla who was surprisingly good in the minutes he played.

Mexico advances to the semifinals comfortably, with their only question being whether they are Nery Castillo + 10, or an actual team to beat. I’m sure that question will be answered when they meet Argentina.

The Star

Nery Castillo. F, Mexico.
Could it have been anybody else? No. Nery, Robinho and Riquelme have been making a name for themselves in Copa America.

The Ugly Duckling

Julio Cesar Caceres. D, Paraguay.
Left his keeper Bobavilla out to try and all in all had a horrible first half.

Today: MEX-PAR and ARG-PER

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.

Chile 1 - 6 Brazil

Dunga couldn’t be happier and it showed. Even though the game was decided early on, the Brazilian coach celebrated each and every goal like if it were Brazil’s first.

Brazil walks all over Chile and gains confidence and an ego boost heading into the semifinals. Chile played well for all of 15 minutes before Juan would start the scoring with a header from a corner kick. Julio Baptista and Robinho would add a beautiful goal to add a 3-0 lead during the half.

The second half saw more of the same, although the goals weren’t anywhere as nice. Robinho added another one in his personal quest to end up as the tournament’s top goal scorer. Josue got one in reward for his rise to fame in the selecao. And poor ol’ Vagner Love who has worked like a dog in these four games finally was rewarded with one of his own. For his part, El Chupete Suzao left his mark scoring an amazing goal for Chile and saving some face for his country. He will go home disappointed at how his nation leaves Venezuela, but showed he is an elite player. The same can’t be said for the Chilean defense that played as well as the French in WW2. There was little resistance and little fight and Brazil rolled on as if this were an exhibition match.

The Star

Robinho. F, Brazil.
The Real Madrid star did shine today but more importantly, he didn’t have to do it all himself.

The Ugly Duckling

Ismael Fuentes. D, Chile.
Fuentes should have worn a white flag and asked for mercy because he wasn’t marking anybody tough and letting Brazil get off shots at will.

Goal summary (in English)

Venezuela 1 - Uruguay 4

Adios Venezuela!

Uruguay eliminates an uninspired Venezuela, booting the host nation out of the tournament with plenty of goals.
The game was 1-2 until the very final minutes when Uruguay sealed Venezuela’s fate with two quick goals but the score was indicative of their respective efforts.

Venezuela did not start strong, something surprising considering they had the entire stadium behind them. Early on the chances were for Atletico Madrid striker Diego Forlan who missed 3 or 4 easy chances to score and eventually did on a breakaway to put the Uruguayans up 0-1.

It wouldn’t last long as Juan Arango scored a set piece goal after an amateurish error by the Uruguayans on the wall. Arango made it 1-1 and the Venezuelans went crazy. It was about time Arango did something; his team was constantly making history yet he continued to have a lackluster performance. At least this time he was able to get a goal and not go unnoticed.

After the goal a dull Venezuela seemed to want to play for the draw. Uruguay would have none of it. A brilliant goal by Pablo Garcia in min 64 opened the game and Cristian Rodriguez and Forlan would get two more right before the end to give them a deserved win and a berth in the semifinals.

The Star

Pablo Garcia. M, Uruguay.
The contention midfielder was very active disrupting any attempts Venezuela made on the attack. He scored a gem of a goal to give his country the lead for good, something you don’t usually see from him.

The Ugly Duckling

Renny Vega. GK, Venezuela.
A disaster of a game for Vega who would only get a touch of a ball after it was in the back of the net. Didn’t pose much of a problem for Uruguay who comfortably scored 4 on him.

Goal Summary (in Spanish)

A chance to shine

Will he be remembered as the star of Copa America?

Robinho has already to proven to be a star for the Brazilians, but a star in a dull team doesn’t shine. With the increased importance of the games in Round 2, Brazil will hopefully step it up now and give Robinho the chance to not only be a star for Brazil, but the star of the Copa America.

Right now the face of Copa America 2oo7 is undoubtedly Juan Roman Riquelme, but as we closed the book on the first phase of competition the doors are wide open for any player of the eight remaining nations to shine brightly.

Robinho’s chance begins tonight.

Peru’s loss is Argentina’s gain

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.

 

 

 

 

Gaby Milito headed to Barcelona

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.

Round 2 of Copa America

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.