And so after a great three weeks of football it is time for us to take a break and then get back to the day jobs and make some money.
Thanks to everyone who dropped by, we’ve really enjoyed meeting up here with so many other fans of Latin football and come the end of August [...]
I watched the Argentina-Mexico game last night in Maracaibo with some Argentine and Mexican colleagues and after Riquelme’s chipped penalty and we got to talking about the inevitable – how one day a goalkeeper is going to stand still and the penalty taker will end up looking like a fool.
The Mexican colleague told us it [...]
The six Chilean players accused of running amok in a hotel room after their match against Mexico last week have been banned from representing their country for 20 games each, the country’s FA said.
Jorge Vargas, Pablo Contreras, Rodrigo Tello, Jorge Valdivia, Reinaldo Navia and Álvaro Ormeño were accused of attacking employees in the hotel restaurant, [...]
Chilean coach Nelso Acosta resigned today, three days after his side were beaten 6-1 and dumped out of a disastrous Copa America.
Acosta’s team won just one of their four matches and conceded 11 goals. They were also embarassed off the field when a group of players were accused of taking part in a drunken rampage [...]
“Brazil repeat steps to victory in 2004″ - Folha de S.Paulo on the similarities between this Copa campaign and the one in 2004 - second in their group, cruise through the quarters and Uruguay in the semis.
“Robinho seeks career milestone” - Lance on Robinho’s quest to finish top scorer for the first time in a [...]
“Argentina builds another goal-fest to affirm a route with intimidates” - La Nacion, Argentina
“Basile: This was our best game” - Clarín, Argentina
“The made us dance a tango” - Todo Sport, Peru
“They played like never before…..and won like never before” - El Universal, Mexico
“The catastrophe of the national team” - Ultima Hora, Paraguay
Everywhere you go in Venezuela you hear snatches of the Copa America theme song. It’s typically tropical and like Venezuela itself full of life. We think it’s rather catchy but you decide for yourself here. Three Lions it is not.
“Finally, Uruguay!” - El Pais, Uruguay
“The vinotinto dream is over while Brazil wake up” - Meridiano, Venezuela
“A second night of Shame. Brazil trash Chile 6-1 and ANF evaluates keeping Acosta on in the middle of the scandal in Venezuela” - La Tercera, Chile
“Brazil hand out the biggest victory of the competition, and now, with confidence [...]
Venezuela 1-4 Uruguay: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dVPePhHyJnw
Brazil 6-1 Chile: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FJUXZmkIGyM
A whopping 12 goals in last night’s two games which is very promising for the rest of the knock-out phase as the Copa returns to the open, goal-laden, football of the first two rounds of the group stage after the drought of the final three group games.
Unfortunately in too [...]
Brazil-v-Italy, July 5th 1982, Estadio Sarria, Barcelona:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zTfPOzUc1JI
It was twenty-five years ago this week and while Dunga’s pig of a team in Venezuela will likely be remembered with distaste even should it thrash Argentina in the final, this glorious bunch of losers have once again been feted all week on Brazilian media, showered with love and [...]
“Brazil take on Chile to stay alive in the Copa America” - Estado de S.Paulo, Brazil
“Brazil have another chance to defeat distrust” - O Globo, Brazil
“For the celeste only victory will do. (This time there is no choice) - El Pais, Uruguay
“La Vinotinto to continue making history” - Meridiano, Venezuela
Uruguay’s most accomplished player doesn’t deserve a place in the starting line-up in Saturday’s quarter final match against Venezuela, as this most gifted of players has too often failed to live up to expectations.
Alvaro Recoba came up through the ranks at Danubio and moved to local giants Nacional in 1995, where the Montevideo-born striker hit [...]
I came across five Brits in the Estadio Metropolitano last night, Copa America aficionados one and all. I’d seen them in Paraguay in 1999 and wasn’t surprised to bump into them again, with their faded Paraguay 1999 tshirts and old war stories.
Kevin, Paul, Dave, Richard and and Peter might sounds like a dodgy 60s pop [...]
Estado de S.Paulo picking the following 11 as the best team of the tournament so far:
Vega (VEN),
J.Zanetti (ARG), Rafa Márquez (MEX), Cichero (VEN), Ormeño (CHI)
Torrado (MEX), Mariño (PER),
Messi (ARG), Riquelme (ARG)
Robinho (BRA) and Santa Cruz (PAR)
Getting a mention:
Abbondanzieri (ARG)
Ayala (ARG)
Juan (BRA)
Arce (MEX)
Guardado (MEX)
Love (BRA)
Crespo (ARG) sadly now out injured
Suazo (CHI)
Castillo (MEX)
Biggest disappointments:
Diego (BRA)
Forlán (URY)
Matias [...]
Before I left Brazil I asked people what to expect in Venezuela. The response was frightening. Compared to Venezuela, everyone told me, Brazil is like Switzerland.
That judgment has turned out to be more than a little harsh. With the first round now over, Venezuelans have proven fine hosts. The fans have come out to the [...]
Carlos Tevez is a top player. On this site we’ve already said we believe he’d be a big star at Man Utd because he will be a big star wherever he goes, much as he has wherever he’s been.
But is it worth the hassle? The player is brilliant but those involved with his affairs have [...]
The proposed £20 million transfer of Argentina star Carlos Tevez to Manchester United is reportedly under threat from English league authorities.
As Latin Football World yesterday suggested it might the proposed transfer looks to have put back in jeopardy West Ham’s top flight status. The League is said to be ready to block the move unless [...]
The third and concluding round of group games are over and we picked as the…..
Best Game: Not a lot to choose from this time around. With qualification at stake, the games were tighter and teams were less willing to throw caution to the wind. So, there were far fewer goals and we got our first [...]
Saturday:
Venezuela -v- Uruguay (18:05)
Chile -v-Brazil (20:50)
Sunday:
Mexico -v- Paraguay (16:05)
Argentina -v-Peru (18:50)
[All times local. Saturday's winners play each other in the first semi-final Tuesday night, Sunday's in the second on Wednesday night.]
Best Team: No doubt here. It has been Argentina, who topped the group and played some lovely football along the way. They went behind in their two first matches but showed the patience and confidence of a top team on top of its game to end up winning both comfortably. They have quality all across [...]
Practically a goal-fest considering the night before - two whole goals from open play!
Colombia 1-0 USA: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JGSd39lkHwA
Argentina 1-0 Paraguay: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YojuRm_04HI
Group C ended up providing us with the most goals of the three groups, 21 in total at an average of 3.5 goals per game, up nicely on the other two groups, and did not contain [...]
“Crespo Doesn’t Exist” - Olé of Argentine celebrates Masche’s first goal for his country
“The Perfect Plan Works Out” - La Nacion, Argentina, celebrates topping the group
“Basile: ‘You see how I choose well?’” - Clarín, praise for Coco after his substitutes win the game
“This defeat really hurts” - Gerardo Martino, Paraguay coach on his country’s first [...]
A perfectly placed strike from Javier Mascherano was enough to give Argentina a 1-0 win over Paraguay in Barquisimeto tonight and secure the Albiceleste a quarter final tie against Peru.
The Liverpool midfielder struck a perfectly placed shot past Aldo Bobadilla just 10 minutes after coming on a 68th minute substitute. The goal was one of [...]
Colombia won back some of their wounded pride with a 1-0 win over the United States in their meaningless Group C fixture in Barquisimeto tonight.
Both teams were already out of the competition after losing their opening games to Paraguay and Argentina, who meet later tonight in the same stadium to decide who will top the [...]
Peru manager Julio César Uribe has called on his countrymen to respect his side after critics savaged the team for their poor performances so far in the Copa América.
“We need to look forward with the same respect and professionalism as always to try and stay alive in this the continent’s most important footballing occasion,” Uribe [...]
Today is a remarkable day for Copa America historians.
Exactly 40 years ago today, a kid named Pele made his Copa America debut for Brazil. The 16-year old scored his first goal in a yellow shirt in Brazil’s 2-1 loss to Argentina at the Maracana in Rio de Janeiro.
As if that wasn’t enough, another well-known Brazilian [...]
Chile’s poor record in the Copa America is obviously a matter of national importance.
The country’s President Michele Bachelet interrupted a speech last night to celebrate Chile’s 0-0 draw with Mexico that took them into the quarter finals. Bachelet was addressing a Congress of mayors and local leaders when an aide whispered the result in her [...]
Brazilian newspapers have reported Dunga is showing the stress of managing the world’s most high profile football team and his latest comments show him on the defensive – and how the pressure is starting to get to him.
Dunga told reporters that Brazil is not dependent on Robinho, in spite of the fact that the Real [...]
While reports in England say Carlitos Tevez is as good as a Manchester United player with the deal set to be finalised next week it is worth noting that there is nothing on the deal so far out of Buenos Aires or Venezuela except a rehash of reports from the UK.
This is not to say [...]
Argentine coach Coco Basile plans to rest several of his stars in tonight’s game against Paraguay which will decide who wins Group C and who gets Mexico in the quarters and who gets Peru.
Basile is keen to give his key players as much rest as possible following the draining heat of Maracaibo where Argentina trained [...]
“Now it could be a beautiful revenge…..hopefully we can deliver the knockout blow” - Humberto Suazo
“This time there can be no mistakes. Brazil have shown that if you make a mistake they’ll kill you. We have to apply ourselves more not to fall into the errors of last time.” - Rodrigo Tello
Anyone hoping Brazil will [...]
Mexico 0-0 Chile: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=egqXyMVieM4
Brazil 1-0 Ecuador: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ozgzCout_2I
The goals have dried up in the third round of group games as sides get a little cagey in protecting their chances of a quarter-final appearance. Mexico’s players gave out after the game against Chile that the Chileans were ultra-defensive and had no interest in scoring, but in fairness [...]
“Brazil win a meagre victory and get Chile in quarters” - Estado de S.Paulo, Brazil
“Brazil play badly, but defeat Ecuador” - Lance, Brazil
“Even without shining Robinho does it again” - O Globo, Brazil
“The team, booed, goes on to quarters of the Copa thanks to one more talented play from Robinho” - Folha de S.Paulo, Brazil
“Ecuador [...]
On Saturday it is two rematches:
Venezuela -v- Uruguay
Chile -v- Brazil
The winners face each other in one semi-final
On Sunday its the far tougher half of the draw:
Mexico -v- Argentina/Paraguay
Argentina/Paraguay -v- Peru
The winners face each other in the second semi-final
When Argentina and Paraguay face each other in Barquisimeto on Thursday night they will be playing not just to win but to avoid having to face a resurgent Mexico, according to Mexican manager Hugo Sanchez.
Mexico won Group B ahead of Brazil and are unbeaten so far in the tournament. Their opponent in next Sunday’s quarter [...]
Brazil won their final Group B tie against Ecuador tonight and once again it was thanks to a penalty won and converted by Robinho. The Real Madrid player conned the referee into awarding Brazil a penalty in the 55th minute and scored the spot kick himself to give his side a 1-0 win.
The victory means [...]
Brazil’s game against Ecuador has kicked off and the team Dunga has picked looks very defensive:
Doni
Daniel Alves, Alex, Juan, Gilberto
Josue, Gilberto Silva, Mineiro, Julio Batista
Vagner Love, Robinho
Daniel Alves is a change forced on the coach because of the injury to Maicon. But the defensive midfield which is the one Brazil finished with against Chile is [...]
Paraguayan striker Roque Santa Cruz may be on his way to England.
The bustling Bayern forward wants to leave Germany and has confirmed that he would love to play in the Premiership. When asked if English clubs had been in touch he broke out into a big smile and said, “I am going to look at [...]
A 0-0 draw between Chile and Mexico was enough to ensure the Chileans joined their opponents in making it through Group B to the quarter finals, most probably as one of the two best third placed teams.
The draw guaranteed Mexico top slot and will play whoever comes off worse from Argentina’s match-up with Paraguay tomorrow. [...]
Argentina’s goalkeeper Roberto Abbondanzieri says the high number of goals scored in this Copa America is down to the lightness of the tournament ball.
The Boca Juniors keeper said the ball frequently moved in flight, bamboozling goalkeepers.
“They are very light. Give this a hard whack and there’s no doubt the ball is going to move [...]
After almost a week in Maracaibo I came to Barquisimeto yesterday to catch the last two games in Group C and next Sunday’s quarter final.
The problem was getting here. There is only one bus a day between the two cities and that was full so I was forced to catch a mini bus with a [...]
I just arrived at the Metropolitano Stadium, where tomorrow night the US play Colombia and Paraguay take on Argentina. It is a BOMB site.
I have never seen anything like it in 35 years of watching football. To say the stadium is not finished is like saying Kaka can play a bit.
It is a total disaster. [...]
Peru 2-2 Bolivia: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_iEEp7hVZvE
Venezuela 0-0 Uruguay: (Technically shouldn’t be here as there were no goals but highlights for those interested)
In all Group A ended up providing us with 14 goals, at 2.3 goals-per-game average. Not bad by some standards but a bit stingy compared to the other two groups. Interestingly, of the six games three [...]
“Venezuela reach historic first place with draw against Uruguay” - Meridiano, Venezuela
“Qualified with very little” - Observa, Uruguay
“Uribe and his bad planning had us eliminated, but Pizarro showed up to make it 2-2 against Bolivia and put us in the quarter final.” - Todo Sport, Peru
“I’m not happy with how Peru played, but we’re there” [...]
Definitely the weakest of the three groups and it takes a very large leap of the imagination to see any team from it progressing beyond the quarter finals. It had the lowest goals-per-game ratio of the three groups and also included the competition’s poorest two games so far: tonight’s 0-0 between Venezuela and Uruguay and [...]
The Copa registered it’s first 0-0 draw tonight as Venezuela and Uruguay played out a stalemate that suited both teams, being enough to see them into the quarter finals. Spectators were not happy with the poor fare on display and by the second half even the home side were being booed by their own fans. [...]
A nerve-wrecking 2-2 draw against Bolivia was enough for Peru to make it through to the quarter finals of the Copa tonight. They fell behind twice, were down to 10 men and attacking in an increasingly desperate, shambolic, manner when they were saved in the 85th minute as new Chelsea striker Claudio Pizarro nailed his [...]
The second round of group games are now done and we picked the…..
Best Game: Colombia 2-4 Argentina. A South American special: hot sticky night; stadium crammed with flag waving, drum beating, ticker tape throwing fans and two teams with plenty of talent and no little edge between them. Colombia go in front. Argentina answer with [...]
Argentina fan and Guardian blogger Marcela Mora y Araujo worries about having nothing to worry about given Argentina’s smooth progress through the group stages of recent tournaments:
http://blogs.guardian.co.uk/sport/2007/07/03/no_worries_companero.html
Referees are always controversial figures but the Copa America seems to have the worst on display. It’s a real shame that often these refs are the key figures in Copa matches, rather than the players.
Colombia’s coach Jorge Luis Pinto was furious with the decision to award the penalty that led to Argentina’s equalizer last night [...]
