Paraguay squeezed into the Copa América finals courtesy of a 5-3 (0-0 aet) penalty shootout result over upstart Venezuela at Malvinas Argentinas in Mendoza. Paraguay, still lacking a regulation-time victory throughout the premier Latin American tournament will now face the high-flying Uruguay in Buenos Aires on Sunday

The opening forty-five minutes saw both sides tentative with chances a rare sighting. Paraguay looked to be the brighter of the two but after seeing a number of chances come up short the Venezuelans began to threaten. A minute past the hour Oswaldo Vizcarrondo nodded the ball in after a free-kick from the right but in a late, as well as dubious decision, the goal was chalked off as offside. César Farías’ side continued to pressure and the forty-third minute Alejandro Moreno’s header being pushed off the crossbar by Paraguyan ‘keeper Justo Villar.

After the re-start the contest slowed considerably with opportunities reserved the set-pieced but each fell short with poor service. With sixteen minutes remaining in regulation time, Paraguay manager Gerardo Martino summoned Roque Santa Cruz into the proceedings but the Blackburn Rovers striker re-injured his hamstring six-minutes later and was replaced. Following his replacement, Paraguay seemed downcast and looked to be holding on for the result.

Extra time saw Venezuela pore on an early attack with Giancarlo Maldonado slick provision re-directed by Nicolás Fedor off the left post before Juan Arango rasped the woodwork with a deft free-kick. Venezuela continued to pressure but Paraguay ‘keeper Justo Villar could not be beaten. Twelve minutes into extra time Paraguay was down to ten-men as Jonathan Santana was sent off, to which traffic was decidedly one way thereafter. However thirty minutes of extra time could not decide the contest and the match went to a penalty shootout.

Both sides were perfect until Justo Villar stopped Franklin Lucena’s effort and as Dario Veron drove the ball into the net, Paraguay celebrated its spot in the Copa América finals.

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Behind the granite solid leadership of Diego Forlán and Luis Suárez’s two goals, Uruguay booked its spot in the Copa América final this upcoming Sunday in Buenos Aires courtesy of a 2-0 victory over Peru.

From the opening whistle it was clear Peru was comfortable in the trying to absorb the pressure of their adversaries, with an eye towards the counter and for the most part their plan worked to perfection in the opening forty-five minutes. Chances were sparse and of the few that made it through, Peruvian goalkeeper Raúl Fernández was up to the challenge. At the sixteenth minute, a long throw-in from the left of the Peru net bounded to Álvaro Pereira but the Porto-man saw his effort halted by the ‘keeper. Peru was stingy in providing opportunities but a few minutes shy of the break, Diego Forlán’s long free-kick from the left was flicked on the back post where Álvaro Pereira sent it into the net, only to see it chalked off as offside.

Eight minutes after the break Uruguay took the lead they would not relinquish as Diego Forlán’s twisting effort from beyond the area spilt out of the mitts of Peruvian goalkeeper Raúl Fernández to which Luis Suárez sent it in from the tightest of angles. Only five minutes later the margin was doubled as Uruguay caught Peru over-committed, with Álvaro Pereira sending a long ball towards Luis Suárez, who then circumvented the onrushing ‘keeper before sending it into the net. Peru’s chance of a comeback took a dark turn with twenty-one minutes remaining as skipper Juan Vargas was the recipient of a straight red-card for elbowing Sebastián Coates in the face. While Paraguay’s Paolo Guerrero narrowly missed clawing back a goal, there chances were rare and Uruguay eased to a confidence boosting 2-0 victory.

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Upsets continued at the Copa América as a late strike from Gabriel Cichero saw Venezuela defeat favourites Chile 2-1 to reach the semi-finals of the premier tournament in Latin America.

To the shock of Chile, César Farías’ Venezuela went in front 1-0 lead ten-minutes shy of the break when Oswaldo Vizcarrondo nodded in a right wing cross from Borussia Mönchengladbach’s Juan Arango. With chances sparse on either end of the pitch the Venezuelans took the one goal advantage to the break.

After the restart Chile pressed for the leveller, with Humberto Suazo and Jorge Valdivia rasping the woodwork in a five minute span just before the hour mark. Shortly thereafter, Gary Medel tried his luck but his header from point-blank range was denied by Venezuelan ‘keeper Renny Vega. However with ten minutes remaining, Humberto Suazo latched onto Alexis Sanchez and drilled the ball into the net from ten metres. Now level, Chile appeared to be cueing up for the go-head goal but with nine minutes remaining in regulation time a free kick from the right spilled out of the mitts of keeper Claudio Bravao with Garbriel Cichero shuttling the rebound into the net. In the final seven minutes both sides went down to ten men as Chile’s Chris Medel and Venezuela’s Tomás Rincón were shown their second yellow-cards. Chile continued to press but somehow Venezuela were able to hold them off to claim the 2-1 victory.

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Brazil joined Argentina with an early exit to the Copa América as they fell 2-0 to Paraguay 2-0 in a penalty shoot-out. With the result Paraguay moves the semi-finals of Latin America’s premier tournament to face Venezuela.

Paraguay, despite being dominated by Brazil from the start of the victim, came out on top thanks to the sublime play of goalkeeper Justo Villar who consistently denied attacking efforts. Dominating from the opening minutes, Brazil saw their first opportunity squandered at the twenty-seventh minute as Neymar accepted Robinho’s provision on the right side of the area before sending his effort wide. Six minutes later Lucio’s close range half volley from André Santos was stopped by Justo Villar.

The Paraguayan ‘keeper continued to steal the show as six minutes past the hour he stretched out fully to his left to spot Ganso’s effort from twelve metres. With seventeen minutes remaining in regulation time Neymar’s free kick from the left swung into the box but Alexandre Pato was denied from point-blank range as the match went to extra-time scoreless.
In the eleventh minute of extra-time tempers boiled over and after a shoving match, referee Sergio Pezzotta handed Brazil’s Lucas Leiva and Paraguay’s Antolin Alcaraz red-cards. Throughout extra-time Paraguay maintained its tight form and more than welcomed the opportunity to settle the affair from the spot.

In Brazil’s opening effort Elano sent the ball far above the bar but Édgar Barreto missed his chance to give Paraguay the advantage. In the next round Thiago Silvo found Justo Villar was unstoppable as the Paraguayan ‘keeper dove to his left to stop the attempt. With opportunity in-hand Marcelo Estigarribia drove the ball in from the spot to give Paraguay the lead they would not relinquish. Channelling Elano’s dreadful attempt, André Santos sent his effort from the spot well over the bar as Brazil’s demise became abundantly clearer. Cristian Riveros did his part in driving the nail into Brazil’s coffin as he converted from the spot to give Paraguay the two goal advantage. With pressure on the line as he must score of Brazil is condemned to losing, Fred sends a poor effort wide left to give Paraguay the stunning victory.

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Uruguay joined Peru in the semi-finals of the Copa América with a 5-4 (1-1) penalty shootout victory over host Argentina at Cementerio de Elefantes in Santa Fe.

In a blazing start, la Celeste took the shock 1-0 lead at the sixth minute as a long free kick from the left was flicked to the near post where Diego Pérez poked the ball into the net. Down by one, Argentina went in search of the leveller immediately and at the eighteenth minute Gonzalo Higuaín nodded Lionel Messi’s deft cross from the left to square the contest. Uruguay’s defending took on a harsh tone, with many challenges directed towards Lionel Messie, only to see Diego Pérez attract his second yellow-card six minutes shy of the break.

Playing at a man disadvantage Uruguay tightened play but the hosts continued to press for the lead with Lionel Messi’s sixty-third minute effort stopped by goalkeeper Fernando Muslera. The Uruguayan ‘keeper continued to shine with stunning performance as he they stopped Gonzalo Higuaín’s seemingly goal bound effort with twelve minutes remaining in regulation. At the eighty-seventh minute Javier Mascherano was given his marching orders, thus eliminating Uruguay’s man advantage but still it was the hosts to dominated the attacking end. As regulation time would down, Argentina came within a hushed whisper of notching the winner but Lionel Messi’s effort from thirty metres was kicked out to safety by the Uruguay ‘keeper.

Extra time proved to be cagey affair and within neither side able to settle the score the match went to penalty shoot. After both sides converted in their first two efforts, Carlos Tévez’s effort was denied with Uruguay now in the drivers sear. With the stages set for Martín Cáceres as the final strike the Sevilla man powered the ball into the net to give Uruguay the victory.

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Peru booked a spot in the Copa América semi-finals with a stunning 2-0 extra-time victory over Columbia at Estadio Mario Alberto Kempes in Córdoba,

From the opening whistle it was clear Peru’s manager Sergio Markarian’s tactical approach was to control play with a tight defensive net to which the vaunted Colombia attack was allowed few quality chances. At the sixty-fifth minute they breathed a sigh of relief after Alberto Rodríguez was adjudged a penalty for Dayro Moreno inside the area, only to see the normally reliable Radamel Falcao drifted his effort wide left. Columbia continued to pressure, narrowly missed taking the lead when Dayro Moreno drilled the ball off the woodwork with Fredy Guarín later rasping an effort off the crossbar in added-time.

After withstanding early chances, Peru broke the deadlock eleven minutes into regulation time as the Columbian ‘keeper failed to deal with a low cross into the box, with the Sporting Cristal’s Carlos Lobatón driving the ball into the net from the edge of the area. Peru’s shocking upset was sealed ten-minutes later Juan Vargas, enjoying a spectacular Copa, doubled the margin with his effort drive near the spot. Without further incident the match concluded with Peru claiming the 2-0 upset victory.

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In a superb performance, Brazil found their top gear with a 4-2 win over Ecuador to claim the top spot of Group B in the Copa América

From the opening whistle it was clear Brazil was ready for the hunt and played with a sense of passion. A scant minute into the contest, young gun Neymar flashed a drive from outside the area that narrowly missed over the bar. Quickly thereafter Thiago Silva sent a header off a corner just wide as Ecuador gasped for the air. However Brazil could only be held back for so long and at the twenty-eighth minute Pato shook off his mark to head

André Santos long diagonal cross into the net for the 1-0 lead. Nine minutes later the match was level as Felipe Caicedo, rumoured in line for a move to Lokomotiv Moscow, sent a low effort from the top of the area that Brazilian ‘keeper Júlio César should have done better. The livened Ecuador as they began to show some attacking prowess but this time the Brazilian goalkeeper could not be fooled and the match went to break level.

Three minutes after the re-start Gatson split the Ecuador defenders with a perfect through ball that Neymar pelted into the net to restore Brazil’s one-goal advantage. However Felipe Caicedo once again levelled, this time at the fifty-eight minute with an effort from inside the area in a another poor piece of goalkeeping from Júlio César. Two minutes later the Seleção took the lead they would not relinquish as Ganso’s effort spilled out of the ‘keeper’s hands to wish Alexandre Pato pouched on the rebound to send it into the net. With fourteen minutes remaining in regulation time Maicon made a fine run before delivering a cross that Neymar sent in for the resolute 4-2 result.

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Paraguay’s once reliable defending collapsed late to allow two late goals from Venezuela, including a stunning last gasp effort from Grenddy Perozo, in a 3-3 draw in Group B play of the Copa América at Estadio Padre Ernesto Martearena.

Venezuela wasted little time as coming at the fourth minute José Salomón Rondón latched onto a loose ball in the Paraguayan end and boomed a right-footer effort from a few metres beyond the area into the back of the net for the one-goal advantage. Two minutes past the half-hour the match was squared as the ball rattled around the box from a free kick on the left before Antolín Alcaraz sent it in from six metres. Shy for the break the Paraguayans lost Roque Santa Cruz to injury but his replacement Nelson Váldez of Hércules would leave his mark soon enough.

Coming at the sixty-second minute Nelson Váldez gave Paraguay its first lead as his header from a corner on the left was blocked but he quickly sent the rebound in from point blank range. The result looked be in-sight for Paraguay with five minutes remaining in regulation when Christian Riveros surged away from his marker towards to the near post to head in a corner from the right to double the margin. However Venezuela stormed back with Nicolás Fedor got on the end of diagonal pass on the right side of the area and sent his low right-footed effort, albeit with a fortuitous deflection into the net. In the final play of the match, Venezuela goalkeeper Renny Vega rushed in for a corner, re-directing it whereby Grenddy Perozo headed to the back of the net to bring the final result to a 3-3 draw, honours even.

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In a masterful performance, Diego Forlán led Uruguay to a 1-0 win over México in the Copa América at at the Estadio Ciudad de La Plata. With the result, Uruguay moves to the next stage of the tournament and will face Argentina in a titanic clash on Saturday.

From the opening whistle it was clear the night belonged to La Celeste as they attacked the youthful México ruthlessly. After coming up short on series of solid advances, Uruguay broke through at the fourteenth minute as Diego Forlán’s low free kick from thirty-metres spilled out of the mitts of the Mexican ‘keeper to which Porto’s Álvaro Pereira slotted it in. México looked to be overrun but managed to maintain the one-goal deficit as Diego Forlán’s hit the woodwork on the half-hour and Luis Suárez was later unable to connect on a good quality chance.

At the restart José Manuel de la Torre added Javier Aquino and Oribe Peralta for Paul Aguilar and Giovani Dos Santos in an effort to stem Uruguay’s advances yet it had little impact. Óscar Tabárez’s side continued to assault with Diego Forlán anxious to end his nine match scoring drought but 2010 World Cup Golden Ball winner continued to misfire. Down by one, México came close to preying upon the Uruguayans inability to find the insurance marker as Rafael Márquez sent in a free-kick from the left but the goal was chalked off with an offside call. After the brief flirt with disaster, Uruguay retained control and eased to the 1-0 victory.

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An added-time own goal via André Carrillo provided Chile a 1-0 win over Peru in the Copa América.

With both sides already secure of their place in the next stage of the tournament, some of the sting of battle was removed as evidenced by Peruvian manager Sergio Markarián decision for nine changes from his most recent match.

The free flowing Chileans attacking early and often with Colo Colo’s Esteban Paredes unable to connect from close range at the fourteenth minute via Jean Beausejour’s low cross from the left by-line. Scoring chances were not rare but squandered as at the thirty-ninth minute when Peru missed going in front as Josepmir Ballón could not turn in a centring pass that started from a free kick on the right.

Two minutes past the hour mark both sides went down to ten men aside as Peru’s Giancarlo Carmona and Chile’s Jean Beausejour were sent off after an altercation related to a harsh foul of Alexis Sánchez. In the final stages Claudio Borghi’s side began to exert its dominance and after a series of advances came up for naught, the Peru goal was breeched as Jorge Valdivia’s corner from the right bounded off André Carrillo to give Chile the 1-0 victory.

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John Davies is available on his personal page on Facebook, Renegade Training™’s, as well as or Twitter.