Copa America Final

Brazil defeated Argentina 3-0 last night to retain the Copa America trophy.

The game was pretty much ruined as a spectacle within four minutes, as Julio Baptista turned inside Roberto Ayala and fired the ball into the far corner. Having taken the lead, the Brazilians piled men behind the ball, making it almost impossible for Argentina to play through them.

Despite this, the Argentines manage to fashion two chances for Juan Riquelme, the first of which came off the outside of the post, and the second of which was well saved by Doni in the Brazilian goal. In the closing minutes of the half, Brazil scored a second on the counter-attack, Daniel Alves' cross deflected into his own goal by Ayala.

The second half followed the same pattern, with Argentina often being caught on the break after pushing so many men forward. Free kick after free kick from Riquelme and Lionel Messi were cleared with ease by the Brazilian backline with PSV/Chelsea defender Alex colossal in the air.

The lack of width in the Argentine side was their downfall as they struggled to break through the resolute Brazilian midfield and defense, becoming more and more frustrated as the game wore on.

With Brazil looking ever more dangerous on the counter-attack, a third goal was inevitable. It came in the 69th minute as Wagner Love played in Daniel Alves to fire a sweet first time drive across the goalkeeper into the far corner.

Argentina never really looked like getting back into the game from three goals down and so it proved as Brazil held on to take their eighth Copa America title.

Copa America Third Place Playoff

Mexico defeated Uruguay 3-1 last night to clinch third place in the Copa America.

Uruguay took the lead in the 22nd minute through Sebastian Abreu, but goals from Cuauhtemoc Blanco, Omar Bravo, and Andres Guardado sealed the win for the Mexicans.

All eyes now fall on the Estadio Jose Pachencho Romero stadium in Maracaibo, which hosts tonight's final between Brazil and Argentina.

Copa America Semi-Finals

Brazil and Argentina were both victorious in their semi-final matches to setup the final that everyone wanted and expected.

Brazil struggled, only defeating Uruguay on penalties after a 2-2 draw in normal time. Despite their impressive quarter final showing, Brazil reverted back to their tepid performances from the group stage and were lucky not to be beaten as Uruguay poured forward in the latter stages.

Maicon gave Brazil the lead after 12 minutes before Diego Forlan levelled ten minutes before half time. Julio Baptista restored Brazil's lead going into half time, but Uruguay once again responded; a headed goal from Sebastian Abreu giving them the equaliser twenty minutes from time.

In the penalties, Pablo Garcia has a chance to win the game for Uruguay, but struck the woodwork. A miss from captain Diego Lugano in the next round of penalties, coupled with Gilberto coverting his for Brazil, consigned the Uruguayans to defeat and allowed Brazil to progress to the final.

They will face Argentina, who overcame a resilient Mexico side 3-0 in the second semi-final. Mexico were able to keep the favourites at bay for much of the first half, closing down key players such as Juan Riquelme and Lionel Messi in numbers, and not allowing the Argentines time on the ball in any area of the pitch.

The game turned just before half time as a Riquelme free-kick picked out Gabriel Heinze to volley home past the horribly misplaced Mexico goalkeeper Oswaldo Sanchez. Mexico started the second half with intent, Nery Castillo hitting the crossbar with a right footed effort early in the half.

Mexico were unable to create any more clear cut chances and were caught on the counter attack for Argentina's second goal. Carlos Tevez played in Lionel Messi on the right, who took just one touch to set himself, before planting a delightful chip over Sanchez. It was a moment of pure genius, the entire stadium appearing to applaud his effort.

Argentina were in control for that moment onwards and got their third twenty five minutes from time thanks to a cheekily taken penalty from Juan Riquelme after Carlos Tevez was brought down by Rafael Marquez in the area. Argentina threatened a fourth late on, but contented themselves with a 3-0 victory to face their old rivals in the final.

The final is this coming Sunday, with the third place play off between Mexico and Uruguay a day earlier on Saturday.

Copa America Quarter Finals Day 2

Mexico and Argentina both comfortably despatched their quarter final opponents last night, to setup an intriguing semi-final clash for Wednesday.

Mexico opened the evening's action with a 6-0 demolition of Paraguay. The writing was on the wall for the Paraguayans within five minutes of the kickoff, after Mexico striker Nero Castillo was upended in the penalty area by Aldo Bobadilla, resulting in a red card for the Paraguay keeper. Castillo converted the resulting spot kick to begin the rout.

Further goals from Gerrardo Torrado and a second for Castillo made it 3-0 at half time. The Mexicans did not let up in the second half, with Fernando Arce, Cuauhtemoc Blanco and Omar Bravo adding a further three goals to compound Paraguay's misery.

Argentina took longer to get into gear in the second quarter final of the night. Peru defended well throughout the first half, holding the Argentines to a goalless draw at the interval. Argentina manager Alfio Basile responded by substituting the largely ineffective Diego Milito, replacing him with Carlos Tevez for the second half.

Argentine, and more specifically Juan Riquelme, sprung to life with the introduction of Tevez, scoring four goals in a second half of absolutely sublime football. Riquelme opened the scoring with a left foot strike from the edge of the area, before providing an equisite pass for Lionel Messi to make it two. Javier Mascherano followed up a saved Messi effort for the third, before Tevez laid on a fourth for Riquelme to calmly slot home and clinch a semi-final place for the tournament favourites.

The semi-finals start on Tuesday with Brazil versus Uruguay, with the Argentina-Mexico semi following the next day. If they are anything like as exciting as the quarter finals then we are in for an absolute treat.

Copa America Quarter Finals Day 1

12 goals were scored across the first two quarter finals as Brazil and Uruguay were victorious, setting themselves up for a semi-final clash.

Uruguay disappointed the vocal home crowd, defeating Venezuela 4-1 in the first game of the night. They took the lead through Diego Forlan on 38 minutes, but Juan Arango equalised with a well struck free kick just before half time. Second half goals from Pablo Garcia, Cristian Rodriguez and Forlan's second sealed their victory.

Brazil suddenly sprung to life, knocking Chile for six and reaffirming their position as second favourties for the tournament. First half goals from Juan, Julio Baptista and Robinho gave Brazil a comfortable lead going into the second half. Robinho's second followed shortly after half time before Josue put the Brazilians five up with twenty minutes remaining. Humberto Suazo scored a spectacular chip to provide Chile with some consolation, but a late strike from Wagner Love made sure Brazil had the last laugh as they progressed to the semi-finals.

Mexico play Paraguay and Argentina face Peru in the remaining quarter finals this evening.

Copa America Day 9

Only two goals scored last night as the Copa America group stages came to a close.

Argentina maintained their 100% record by defeating Paraguay 1-0 thanks to a second half strike from subsitute Javier Mascherano. The win leaves the Argentines facing Peru in the quarter finals, with Paraguay to play Mexico.

Colombia compounded further misery on the USA's Copa America campaign after a Jaime Castrillon strike gave them a 1-0 victory over the Americans. Plane journeys home now await both sides.

The quarter finals stage kicks off on Saturday as Venezuela play Uruguay and Chile face off against Brazil.

Copa America Day 8

Brazil, Chile and Mexico booked their places in the knockout stages as Group B reached its climax last night.

Chile and Mexico played out a largely uneventful 0-0 draw in the nights opening match, with Brazil following that with a 1-0 victory over Ecuador, despite another highely unconvincing performance. Robinho was once again their saviour, winning and converting a second half penalty to put Brazil through to the quarter finals.

There they will meet Chile, who went through as one of the two best third placed sides. Mexico will face the runner up in Group C, which will be either Argentina or Paraguay.

Copa America Day 7

Three teams made their way into the knockout phase as Group A finished last night.

Hosts Venezuela topped the group after an uninspiring 0-0 draw with Uruguay, who will also progress as one of the best two third place teams.

Bolivia were five minutes away from both their first Copa America victory since 1997 and a place in the quarter finals until Claudio Pizarro equalised for Peru, sending his side through in second place. It was the second time in the game that Pizarro had cancelled out a Bolivian lead, as goals from Jaime Moreno and Jhasmany Campos had twice put them into a qualifying position.

Venezuela will now play the second best third place team in the quarter finals (possibly Uruguay again) as Peru face the daunting prospect of Argentina or Paraguay in the last eight.

Copa America Day 6

Another ten goals last night as the Copa America goalfest shows no signs of slowing up.

Paraguay progressed to the knockout stages after defeating the USA 3-1 thanks to goals from Edgar Barreto, Oscar Cardozo and Salvadar Cabanas. Ricardo Clark scored USA's solitary goal.

Paraguay will be joined in the quarter finals by Argentina, who came from behind to defeat Colombia 4-2 in the second game of the night. Colombia took an early lead through Edixon Perea, before a penalty from Hernan Crespo and two goals from Juan Riquelme put Argentina in charge. The Colombians reduced the deficit to one when Jaime Castrillion struck quarter of an hour from time, but a late Diego Milito goals secured the win a deserved win for Argentina. The only disappointment of the night for the Argentines was an injury picked up by Hernan Crespo when converting the penalty that brought about his goal. He is expected to miss the rest of the tournament.

The USA and Colombia will just be left to play for pride when they meet in their final group game, with only a minor miracle allowing either of them to progress as a best third place finisher.

Copa America Day 5 (and late Day 4)

It was the Robinho show last night in the Copa America as the Real Madrid forward scored a hat-trick in Brazil's 3-0 victory over Chile.

The Brazilians looked pedestrian throughout and the 3-0 scoreline did flatter them somewhat. Humberto Suazo again looked impressive for Chile, although he probably should have levelled the game in the second half, but took too long over his shot, allowing Brazil to get players back onto the line to block his eventual effort.

In the other game of the night, Mexico defeated Ecuador 2-1 to book their place in the quarter finals. A first half strike from in-form Nero Castillo and a second after the break from Omar Bravo gave Mexico the victory, despite Edison Mendez's late effort for the Ecuadorians.

Back to Day 4 and hosts Venezuela put themselves in pole position to progress to the knockout stages with a 2-0 victory over the ten men of Peru. Pedro Garcia was sent off within the first fifteen minutes, but it wasn't until the second half that Venezuela made their man advantage count. Goals from Alejandro Cichero and Daniel Arismendi gave them a comfortable victory.

Uruguay got their tournament back on track after scrapping out a 1-0 victory over Bolivia thanks to Vicente Sanchez's second half goal.

The results in both groups setup an intriguing last set of fixtures, with almost all the teams involved still holding hope of qualifying for the next round.

Copa America Catchup

If you've missed any of the action so far then fear not, click on the Youtube links below for the goals from each of the six games played so far in the competition.

Group A
Peru 3 - 0 Uruguay
Venezuela 2 -2 Bolivia

Group B
Chile 3 - 2 Ecuador
Mexico 2 - 0 Brazil

Group C
Paraguay 5 - 0 Colombia
Argentina 4 - 1 USA (sorry about the horrible English overdub on this one, best I could find)

Enjoy!

Copa America Day 3

The Copa America goalfest continued last night with ten goals between the two games, bringing the tournament average up to four a game.

Paraguay opened the evenings proceedings with a 5-0 demolition of Colombia, whose defensive inadequacies were there for all to see. Bayern Munich striker Roque Santa Cruz scored a hat-trick, with subsitute Salvador Cabanas adding another two late on to compound the Colombian's misery.

Tournament favourites Argentina got off to a perfect start, thrashing the USA 4-1. A Hernan Crespo double along with second half goals from subsitutes Pablo Aimar and Carlos Tevez cancelled out an early penalty from Eddie Pope to give Argentina victory. Both Juan Riquelme and Juan Sebastian Veron started for Argentina having been recalled to the national squad for the tournament and their creative input played a large part in their side's triumph, Riquelme being involved in three of their four goals.

Argentina and Paraguay are now clear favourties to progress to the knockout stages, whereas Colombia and the USA will be left scrambling for one of the two best third place finishes.

Copa America Day 2

Another upset, goals galore and referee decisions to confuse even the best of us (and of course the Sky commentary team) on day 2 of the Copa America.

Tournament second favourites Brazil endured a torrid night, going down 2-0 to Mexico thanks to first half goals from Nery Castillo and Ramon Morales. Despite a second half resurgence from the Brazilians they were unable to beat Guillermo Ochoa in the Mexican goal.

My tournament tip Chile got off to a winning start in a five goal thriller with Ecuador. The Ecuadorians twice held the lead through Antonio Valencia (who was on fine form in the first half) and Cristian Benitez, but a double strike from Humberto Suazo and a 87th minute goal from substitute Carlos Villaneuva sealed a 3-2 win for the Chileans.

Brazil must now bounce back with a victory in their second group game against Chile, or the holders could be facing an extremely embarassing first round exit.

Copa America Day 1

A 39 year old making his tournament debut, a disputed disallowed goal and Gerry Armstrong pretending to have an intimate knowledge of the Peruvian center-back who scored the first goal. And that was just the opening 45 minutes!

The Copa America got off to a great start yesterday, with no fewer than seven goals spread between the two opening matches.

Peru caused an early upset by defeating Uruguay 3-0 in the opening match. Miguel Villata opened the scoring with a first half header, with substitute Juan Marino, and Jose Guerrero adding two goals after half time to seal a famous victory for Julio Cesar Uribe's side.

Hosts Venezuela opened their campaign with a 2-2 draw with Bolivia. They led twice, through Giancarlo Maldonado and Ricardo Paez, but were unable to hold onto their lead on both occasions thanks to a Alejandro Cichero own goal and an 84th minute equaliser from Jean Carlos Arce for the Bolivians.

The results make Group A an interesting proposition going into the second round of games, with group favourites Uruguay needing to improve dramatically if they are to reach the knock out stages.

Copa America Preview

With the Copa America kicking off this evening, I thought I'd post a link to a preview for the competition that I recently wrote for the site Atomic Sports Media.

So here it is

Enjoy the Copa America and come back here for news, analysis and highlights from the tournament as it happens.

Riquelme Back In Argentina Squad for Copa America

(This news is a couple of days old now, but is certainly relevant, hence the posting)

Despite announcing his retirement from International Football last September, Juan Riquelme has been named in Argentina manager Alfio Basile's 22 man squad for the Copa America, commencing this coming Tuesday (26th).

Riquelme's inspired form for Boca Juniors in the latter part of the season, culminating in their Copa Libertadores success on Wednesday of the week just gone, along with intense pressure from the mainly Buenos Aires based Argentine press, left Basile with no choice but to name the playmaker in his squad.

Whether he will be in the starting eleven or not remains to be seen. The previous national boss Jose Pekerman built his team around the mecurial number ten, so it will be interesting to see how Basile will incorporate him into a team where Lionel Messi appears to (rightly or wrongly) have been given the role of playmaker.

Whether he starts or not, I, for one, am glad to see Riquelme back in the national fold. As well as adding a little something extra to the Copa America, it is also a move that will put him in the shop window for a transfer back to Europe after the competition has concluded, allowing many more people to witness his exquisite skills on a weekly basis.