Just one goal - Guerrero in Peru's record books

Last evening marked day 2 of the Copa América Centenario. While most teams failed to convince or even score a goal, Peru's Paolo Guerrero set a new record for his country.

The first game was played between Costa Rica and Paraguay and that was pretty much all there is to say about that. Not many supporters came out to support the teams in 32°C hot Orlando. Understandably, the game was not very fast and lacked cutting edge chances throughout the 90 minutes, before lastly finishing 0-0. 

A game that was very aggressive in the opening stages started off with a yellow card for Costa Rica's Yeltsin Tejeda inside the first 25 seconds. Solid chances came from headers alone, Bryan Ruiz saw his attempt saved comfortably by Colo Colo's Justo Villar. On the other end, Dario Lezcano, who had previously convinced for his country in the World Cup qualification, headed on target himself, but could not find the back of the net either. 

At the end of the night, Kendall Watson set the appropriate Latin American end to the game by getting himself sent off in added time with a straight red card. With their one point after the first game, both Costa Rica and Paraguay move into second place in Group A. They trail Colombia (3) and find themselves ahead of the USA (0). 

Paolo Guerrero, Peru's record goalscorer. (Photo: picture alliance)

The only goal of the Copa América night was scored by Peru. Who else but Paolo Guerrero would be the one to convert? With his 61st minute goal, the Flamengo striker wrote history, moving past Peruvian legend Teofilo Cubillas for most goals ever scored for his country (27). 

Outsiders Haiti did not stand a big chance against their South American opponent, collecting just one shot on target throughout the 90 minutes. Before Guerrero even scored, it could have been Peru in the lead already, but Edison Flores only hit the post on the brink of halftime. Going into the second half, Peru kept their dominance up and were rightfully rewarded through Guerrero's header from 5 metres after a nice cross from the left side.

Peru continued to be the better team and ended up celebrating their first three points of the tournament. Haiti simply find themselves where everyone expected them, the experience of playing the Copa América will still be a valuable one for the team. 

(Photo: conmebol.com)

Over in Pasadena, Brazil entered the competition with a 0-0 draw against Ecuador. They were lucky in the process, as a good goal for their opponents seconds into the second half was not given by the refereeing team. They had seen the ball cross the goalline, before Alisson turned it into his own net. 

While the Brazilians looked superior, the statistics that actually matter look grim for the record World Champions. Despite their ton of possession and excellent passing success, they never managed to find the dangerous areas on the field, ending up with a total of two shots on target. Not good enough for a team that severely missing their stars like Neymar and Douglas Costa's speed up front.

Philippe Coutinho tried his luck early (6'), Lucas late (84'), none of them could find the back of the net past Javier Dreer. By the final whistle, everyone was somewhat happy for the game to be over, just Ecuador felt like they should have won. They meet Peru in their next outing, while Brazil face Haiti in their attempt to reach their first three points.

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Copa América hosts drop opener to Colombia

Last night, the Copa América Centenario started in Santa Clara, USA. The hosts dropped their opening match 0-2 to Colombia and are under pressure to win their next game instantly. 

James Rodríguez celebrates his goal against the USA. (Photo: conmebol.com)

Disaster started early on as the Colombians took the lead only eight minutes into the game. Cristián Zapata scored with a thunderous shot from Edwin Cardona's corner. Instead of showing a fast reaction, Jürgen Klinsmann's Americans never found their game and were pretty much chanceless throughout the first 45 minutes. 

Colombia controlled the game and kept finding their Milan striker Carlos Bacca up front, who left out several chances or was whistled offside. While they kept giving away freekicks in their own half, the USA could do near to nothing with them. After 40 minutes, Colombia received the opportunity to double their lead when referee Roberto García awarded the South Americans a penalty. Farid Díaz' cross had previously gone off the hand of DeAndre Yedlin, a correct decision. James Rodríguez left Brad Guzan not the slightest chance, converting it to the bottom right corner (42'). 

If you thought to yourself at halftime that the USA could hardly play any worse, you were proven wrong to start the second 45 minutes. A strangely lifeless performance continued to get even worse, but coach Klinsmann did not elect to react with a substitution. Cardona and Bacca continued to be the most dangerous players on the pitch, endangering Guzan's goal several further times. 

After an hour, the Soccer Boys finally worked out their first big chance. Unsurprisingly, it came from a set piece, as Michael Bradley's corner was headed towards David Ospina's goal by Clint Dempsey, but cleared off the line by Sebastián Pérez. Dempsey continued to shoulder the American attacks afterwards, trying his luck with a shot towards the top corner, countered magnificently by Ospina. Instead of letting his players continue after finally creating some chances, Klinsmann made two substitutions after which the USA was dead again. 

Colombia regained their composure and the endless Bacca marathon continued. Once he was denied by a defender storming back in the last second, another time he hit the crossbar after having Guzan beat already. Towards the end of the game, they even had the physical advantage, receiving a lot of room to counter on top. The USA never got another chance and deservedly lost after an extremely disappointing home performance. 

Coach Klinsmann said after the game: "We are standing with our backs against the wall and we need three points against Costa Rica." To have any chance of winning against their CONCACAF rivals in a few days, they will need a 100% better plan. Paraguay is a very tough opponent they will need points from at the end of the group stage too. Not few have predicted them to be one of the surprises in the Copa América Centenario. In the meantime, Colombia can celebrate a decent start and are well on their way to the quarterfinals. Their only worry is the injury of James Rodríguez, substituted off after falling on his shoulder.

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CHILE MAKE HISTORY - COPA AMERICA CHAMPIONS

The air could not get much more electric. Chileans were chanting along to their national anthem, waving the flag, and if the stadium had a roof, it would have long flown away. The few Argentinians that had gotten a ticket were just as passionate. The recipe for a special final. Who would take it: Chile for the first time ever or Argentina for the 15th, but first time since 1993?

The first half of the big final was pretty even and very entertaining. Argentina had more structure in their game and additionally the best chance. After a Messi freekick from the right, Agüero was able to head the ball on target, just to be denied by Claudio Bravo. Before, Chile had an opportunity, that never went as it could have. Their best man in the first half, Valdivia, was wide open in the penalty area all of a sudden and instead of shooting tried to find a striker in the middle.

La Roja tried to find success predominantly over the right flank, long balls behind the Argentinian back four found Isla more than once. Argentina’s Rojo continued to be a liability at leftback for his team. After all, the hosts could not profit from it. Especially the main figures like Alexis Sanchez and Arturo Vidal were too cute too often and gave the ball away easily. That led to counters, but not in the decisive breakthrough for the Albiceleste. Messi was contained well for the most part, di Maria was the player that stood out the most. That soon ended due to an injury after he sprinted down half the pitch and pulled a muscle. The Manchester United player was replaced with Lavezzi, who had the last chance of the first half, firing a shot right onto the keeper’s fists.

Despite many wasted chances, the game was fast, and especially in the opening stages I feared I would miss something if I looked elsewhere for too long.

Chile came back out on fire in the second half, very offensive with good forechecking which made them win back a lot of balls early and in dangerous areas for their opponents. Pretty much exactly what people had paid for. Still huge chances remained non existent, a blocked Vidal shot probably the biggest. The clock already showed 70 minutes and if something would not change soon, we were heading straight to extra time. Strangely enough, Chile coach Sampaoli took his biggest creative element in Valdivia out of the game right after. Nevertheless, La Roja had one of its best pressure periods right after, Alexis Sanchez beat the Argentinian offside trap but his nice volley landed wide. Like in the first half, the guests had the biggest opportunity at the end, Messi with a nice ball to the left brought Lavezzi into play, who crossed it low to the far post, but substitute Higuain could only direct it into the side netting.

What counts remain the goals though and since there weren’t any after 90 minutes, this match needed 30 more. One has to conclude that the game lost quite a bit of its quality from the first half. What always remained was sheer endless effort with a lot of heart from both teams.

The general trend of the second half meanwhile continued: Chile were the slightly better team, without using their advantage to any extent. They simply need too many chances to score a goal which is usually fatal against the big sides. Proven again by Alexis Sanchez who used an awful error by the Argentinian defense only to fire the ball over the crossbar. You guessed it, even 120 minutes were not enough to determine a winner, penalties would decide the Copa América.

Higuain hammered the second Argentinian one into the sky, and Bravo became Chile’s hero when he saved the next one from Banega. Since Chile did not leave any doubts with their own kicks and Alexis Sanchez scored with a Panenka, the hosts finally became Copa América champions for the first time in history!

The moment a whole country has waited for: Alexis Sanchez converts the decisive penalty in style and gives Chile the Copa América crown.

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Derlis Gonzalez is Paraguay’s hero – Brazil out

The drama on Friday night was extended until the last possible moment. Argentina needed penalties to get by Colombia in a game which was heavily dominated by the Albiceleste. Arsenal goalkeeper David Ospina put on a show and gave his Colombian teammates the (through 90 minutes highly unlikely) chance to come out as winners on penalties. But it was not meant to be. 3 misses were one too many, and after Murillo could not convert the seventh penalty for Colombia, Carlos Tevez did and ended the quarterfinal.

A day later, Paraguay completed the semifinal. They shocked Brazil with a 5-4 win after penalties. In the first half, Brazil impressed with technically good football. That led to the opening goal by Robinho, who finished off an excellent low cross from Dani Alves (still wondering when this guy learned how to cross). Paraguay were by no means playing a bad game either. They might not have the individual quality that the Brazilians can put onto the pitch, but they made up for it by fighting for every inch. Due to Brazil’s vulnerability at the back, this led to quite a few chances, none of them really 100% though. Jefferson kept looking like a risk in goal as the tournament goes on, you might remember the weird goal they gave up to Peru in the first group game.

Since Paraguay already showed their comeback qualities in the 2-2 draw against Argentina, the second half still held a lot of excitement. They came right back out in their aggressive style and were ultimately rewarded with some huge chances for an equalizer. A freekick was saved on the near side, a Valdez header went over the crossbar and da Silva produced a great save on the line from Jefferson. Paraguay controlled the game in large parts now and kept Brazil defending in their own half, then profited from a ridiculous handball from Thiago Silva which resulted in a penalty. Derlis Gonzalez left no doubt and fired it into the bottom left corner and suddenly Brazil had their backs against the wall, needing to get back into an attacking mode that they lost at the end of the first 45 minutes. With penalties on the horizon (no extra time at the Copa América before the final), neither team managed any sort of breakthrough and never was the phrase “a game of two halves” more fitting.

Gonzalez goal! Paraguay’s #10 ties the game up via penalty and rewards Paraguay for a fantastic second half.

The shooting competition from 11 meters that noone really likes, unless you are German, had to decide this quarterfinal. The unpleasant memories from 2011, when Brazil missed all four penalties against this same Paraguay at the same stage, still in the head, their demons came back to haunt them fast. Substitute Everton Ribeiro, who came on late just for the penalty shootout, missed the second one wide to the right. When Douglas Costa shot the fourth penalty over the crossbar it seemed all over, Roque Santa Cruz shortly gave them hope again doing the same. But the fifth penalty was the coolest of them all. Derlis Gonzalez stepped up again and he would have scored this one in his sleep. Paraguay turn it around and kick out Brazil! And most of all, after this second half, it was completely deserved.

Now they will get the chance to play against Argentina again. While their opponent are strong favorites yet again, Paraguay have shown throughout the tournament that you have to expect a good and competitive match out of them, and this is what will happen again in the semifinal. I am looking forward to it.

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Chile cruise to Group A win – Ecuador still hope

At the end of the day, Chile did not leave any questions. Ever since the Vidal accident under influence of alcohol, people were wondering what kind of team from the hosts we would see in the last match against Bolivia. While coach Sampaoli stated early, that Arturo Vidal would remain a key part in the first 11, the incident brought up a lot of disturbance around the team.

The team itself did not seem to be bothered the slightest in the meantime. 5-0 against a poor Bolivian team meant Chile top Group A with 7 points and a whole 10 goals from 3 matches. While the defense did not hold up in the second game (3-3 draw against Mexico), it did again last night. One of the bright spots in all the goalfests is that Chile gets good production from all around the team. Midfielders Vidal (3) and Aranguiz as well as striker Vargas (2) all scored alongside of Alexis Sanchez and Gary Medel.

Chile’s players celebrating a goal in their massive 5-0 win over Bolivia last night.

The opponent in the quarter final is not clear yet. It will be either the third placed team from Group B or C. Possibilities include Uruguay, Paraguay, Argentina (B) and every team from C.

Bolivia, despite their 0-5 thumping, follow Chile into the round of the best 8. Previously I would have counted them in for maybe a surprise semi final appearance, but last night’s match speaks another language. We will see how they can deal with that big loss. They will play the runner-up from Group C, so a Neymar-less Brazil is the worst that can happen to them.

Ecuador have hope. The third place team in the Chile-Group waited until the last day to collect their first three points. Whether it will be enough will be determined by the other two groups today and tomorrow. At least one third will need to finish worse than with three points and a goal difference of minus 2. The only possible candidate to do so today would be Uruguay, if they lost at least 0-2 to Paraguay. Not likely? Then Group C has to help, and will need a winner in each of the last games on the last matchday to avoid Ecuador going home.

Mexico are going home. After a promising start which was not rewarded by a win against Bolivia, another good draw against Chile, they could not do well in the final fixture and were eliminated by Ecuador themselves.

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Super Barrios - Paraguay pull one out of the hat late

On the third day of the Copa América, Group B played their first games. Uruguay beat Jamaica 1-0, the game itself was not particularly pretty. Cristian Rodríguez scored the winner in the 52nd minute. The game I am going to write about in detail will be Argentina vs Paraguay though.

Inevitably, some big names had no place in Argentina’s starting 11, and this time it was Carlos Tevez as well as rightback Pablo Zabaleta, who found themselves on the bench. Here are the lineups in full:

Argentina: Romero – Roncaglia, Garay, Otamendi, Rojo – Banega, Mascherano – Pastore – Messi, Agüero, di María.

Paraguay: Silva – M. Cáceres, da Silva, Aguilar, Samudio – V. Cáceres, Ortigoza, Ortiz – Bobadilla, Santa Cruz, Valdez.

1st half. We did not have to wait too long for the first half chance, Valencia’s Otamendi moved forward for a set piece and headed the ball (pretty far) over the crossbar. Fireworks like in the early stages of Chile’s opener were not really expected and did not happen either, since Argentina is a team that first of all relies on their defense as seen previously at the 2014 World Cup. Despite that, Paraguay is certainly the outsider in this match and any point for them would count as success. Back to the game, and Argentina has the ball almost all the time, but seems clueless with it so far, the only times it ever gets a bit dangerous remain set pieces. As you see so many times all season long, Messi has tons of opposition players around him. Still he ended up with the biggest chance of the game in the 18th when he redirected a Mascherano shot just wide.

Not much to see from 2011’s surprise second Paraguay, a lot of misplaced passes in their own half does not help their course. The Bundesliga striking trio (or former in Santa Cruz’ case) hangs in the air. Logically, Argentina just kept trying to do their thing, a low shot from Agüero was easily saved by Silva. Two minutes later, Kun did it better, taking advantage of a ridiculously poor back pass right into his run by Samudio and he had no trouble walking around the keeper and putting it into the back of the net, 1:0 (29’).

Only six minutes later, Argentina made it 2-0, a run from di Maria ended in an awful dive and a penalty, which was converted by Messi. The way this match has been going, this could game over for Paraguay already. The Albiceleste should have gotten a real penalty in the 40th when Messi was brought down, this time though for some reason the referee’s whistle kept quiet. The score remained until halftime and we have to analyze that we have just seen a pretty bad half of football with a dreadful Paraguay and a not much better Argentina who lead because of an individual defensive blackout and a penalty gift by the referee.

Copa start made easy: Agüero gets the opening goal against Paraguay served on a silver platter. It was not enough for the win though.

2nd half. What would the reaction to those 45 minutes be by Paraguay? There was none. They were still as bad as previously and, with all respect to their opponent today, if this is their ceiling, then Jamaica will be a bigger challenge for them than expected.

In the meantime, Argentina tried to extend their lead, Messi’s shot was saved by Silva after he played a beautiful one-two with Javier Pastore. Just as Paraguay looked like falling asleep an hour into the game, they suddenly woke up out of nowhere, Nelson Valdez had his shot saved by Romero, his second try was better. An absolute screamer found the top corner and made it 2-1.

On the opposite side the attempt for a quick answer by Lionel Messi went wide after he broke through the defensive line on the edge of the area. Pastore’s great shot was saved brilliantly by Silva, after the following corner Agüero had another go. The only thing you can blame Argentina for in the second half is their bad usage of quality chances. I do not want to take anything away from Paraguay though, who clearly got more offensive ever since scoring their first goal. Victor Cáceres had the chance to level things up, his backheeled ball did not find the target. Chances up and down the field, too many to even include them all in this post.

15 minutes from the end, the Argentines decided to show us their squad depth when they substituted Agüero and Pastore for Tevez and Higuaín. The first action the new guys saw was at the other end, Samudio’s shot was punched over the crossbar. Would have been a nice story for the player who made the horrible mistake that led to the opening goal. The favorite continued to waste excellent chances, and one man made them pay. Lucas Barrios, who came on for Santa Cruz, fired a low shot into the left corner, Romero was without a chance. And really, it was 2-2 after all in the 90th minute.

Paraguay come away with an unexpected point against Argentina, that I would have never seen coming after their first half display. Great for them!

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La Roja start in style – Alexis makes the difference

The scene was set and Chile was ready to go: After a spectacular opening ceremony, the Copa América 2015 could finally get underway with the opening match between the hosts Chile and Ecuador.

The lineup’s did not provide any big shocks, I expected Vargas for Chile, he did not start. Instead an additional defender in Mena came into the starting 11 which forced experienced Beausejour into a more offensive role. Ecuador in return put everything on the field that they could. Walter Ayoví plays his 100th international for his country today.

Chile: Bravo – Isla, Medel, Jara, Mena – Aranguiz, Díaz, Vidal – Valdivia – Sánchez, Beausejour.

Ecuador: Domínguez – Paredes, Achilier, Erazo, Ayoví – Lastra, Noboa - Martínez, Bolaños, Montero – E. Valencia.

I am ready for a firework in this opener, so let’s get this party started, La Roja vs El Tri!

The start was promising, it took Chile just over a minute to get the first huge chance of the game, Alexis Sanchez was through on goal and slotted the ball just wide. Two minutes later he had the next chance, as he tried to lob the ball over the goalkeeper, but Dominguez had the right answer at the edge of his area. The offensive approach by the hosts in the early parts of the match is fun to watch, just not for Ecuador, who have trouble with especially the fast moves and turns of Alexis. 17 minutes in, they just tried it with some offense themselves, Montero beat Isla on the left side with a great run, noone was there to meet his low cross. Chile gave the ball away again carelessly right outside of their penalty area, Martínez’ shot was denied by Barca’s Claudio Bravo.

Maybe the players were overwhelmed themselves, but the game took a little break for a while, both teams were trying to get a bit more structure into their actions. Mauricio Isla kept bringing danger on the right wing, but his crosses continued to be met only by Ecuadorian defenders. Shortly after, a shot by Valdivia was easily saved. Finally in the 39th another big chance for Chile, Alexis sent Isla through and his attempt went wide. The 0-0 that the teams went to halftime with, did not really do the game justice. It was attractive and offensive for the most part, La Roja being the dominating team.

“Help, ball!” Alexis Sánchez with Ecuador’s Walter Ayoví who played his 100th game.

One change in Santiago to start the second half, Eduardo Vargas came on for Beausejour who I saw about once in the first half. Ecuador, probably happy with a point from a game against the group favorites, can continue playing like they did towards the end of the first half, one way to success might be to exploit the extremely offensive right Chilean wing, since Isla looked bad defensively twice in the first half.

And that is exactly what they tried, an attack from El Tri’s left wing ended in the feet of Enner Valencia, but he missed the target disappointingly. Despite that chance, Chile quickly took charge again, yet some eyes started to look at the clock in the stadium. Thirty minutes left for each team to get a (possibly decisive) breakthrough. Just after the hour mark, Chile had their best chance of the second half thus far, a rising shot from substitute Vargas was saved on the near side by Domínguez.

The 65th minute of this game will surely be regretted by one player. Bolaños with a clumsy shirt pull on Vidal on the inside edge of the area was completely unneeded but resulted in a penalty. The fouled player took it himself and converted into the top right corner: 1-0 Chile. All defensive plans of the guests were now for the trashcan, a goal needed to get back on level terms.

Throwing everything forward started to work well for them quite a while later. Following some defensive confusion after a freekick, Enner Valencia headed the ball against the crossbar in the 82nd minute. Too close for comfort for Chile, who ended this game in style shortly after. You should not misplace the ball into Sánchez’ foot, if you are Ecuador. They did nevertheless and his brilliant through ball found Vargas, who made it 2-0 with a cool finish. Furthermore, in injury time, experienced Chile substitute Matías Fernández received a needless second yellow card and was sent off.

While it was a lot closer than it had to be until the end, La Roja’s victory is absolutely deserved. For the upcoming games they can significantly improve in their usage of chances though. Ecuador showed some promising scenes here and there, and will battle for second place in this group.

Man of the Match: Alexis Sánchez. Speedy, tricky, unstoppable for his opponents.

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