COPA AMERICA

[sayjann]

Group B.

Mexico 0-Chile 0

 

Mexico had already qualified for the Q/F's and made 9 changes.

a chance for the non regular Players to make an impression,and they didn't really sparkle.

Chile would have probably qualified even if they had lost but a Point was enough for them to progress too.

 

not a very exciting Game with few chances,but Chile seemed to have wanted the win more.

 

 

Brazil 1-Equador 0

 

a spirited Equador took the Game to Brazil and deserved more out of the Game.

Brazil had the better chances but came up against a Goalie in sparkling form.

he certainly earned his corn for his saves.

 

Brazil took the lead in the 2nd Half as Robinho scored from the spot after winning the Penalty himself.

but he was a bit of a powderpuff when he went crashing to the ground after a slight tug on his shirt.

i can never understand that when a Player feels contact with his shirt then his legs automatically fail to work and they fall to the ground.

Equador were denied a Penalty of their own after a clear push,but the decisions do seem to have been going the big Teams in this Tournament.

 

the biggest mistake of the Tournament has been the decision to play the last Games in the Groups at different times.

this had led to Teams seeming to play out Draws because it suited them both,not a good idea IMO.

 

and due to the strange format it means Brazil will play Chile in the Q/F.

a Team they played a few Days and beat in Group B.

this is something you would not see in the WC.

 

 

[sayjann]

Group C.

 

Colombia 1-USA 0

 

this Game was a waste of time as both Teams were already heading home.

the Colombians took an early lead and seemed content to settle for that and the US didn't really make them work that hard.

the US took the oppurtunity to play some of the fringe Players and frankly not many of them done their prospects any good,they were poor.

 

the Colombians also missed a Penalty after a blatant dive by one of their Players.....

i knew as soon as he ran into the area he would fall down and that's exactly what he did....

 

but 2 things pissed me off.

 

firstly was the antics of the Colombians,they just fell over whenever anyone breathed in their general direction and got the free-kicks.

 

and the Ref was appalling.

he let the Colombians get away with just about everything and one thing summed it up.

he finally decided to book a Colombian and whistled and waved the Player to come to him.

the Player totally ignored him.

the Ref kept blowing the whistle and telling the Player to come to him but got nowhere.

he finally gave up and showed the card from a distance....i'd have ran to the Player and shown a red for dissent.

but the Ref finally got it right by sending off the Colombian Keeper for time wasting.

10 Minutes after being booked for time wasting he did it again and was astonished at being shown the 2nd card,he fucking deserved it......... :thumbup:

it took around 5 Minutes for him to leave the pitch and i would have shown him a straight for his reaction.

i remember in Scotland a few Years ago that a Player was shown 3 red cards in one Game.

 

but the USA could be victims of fall-out.

the Organisers were desparate for the US to attend and kept inviting them.

but the US disappointed by sending a very low quality Squad and the talk is that they will not be invited again for a very long time,if ever.

 

Argentina 1-Paraguay 0.

 

with both Teams already qualifying all at stake was who was going to top the Group.

Argentina made 9 changes to the starting line-up and even then proved too strong and ran out winners courtesy of a Goal from West Ham's Mascherano.

 

Q/F's are............

 

Venezuela v Uruguay

Chile v Brazil

Mexico v Paraguay

Argentina v Peru

 

in my opening post i said that i didn't think it would be the dream Final of Argentina/Brazil but the draw has now opened and it is possible.

[sayjann]

Quarter Finals

 

after a run of only 3 Goals in 5 Games the Tournament burst into life again.

 

Venezuela 1-Uruguay 4.

 

after scoring 1 Goal in their previous 3 Games,Uruguay burst into life and destroyed the hosts to book their place in the S/F's.

Forlan had a couple of good chances before opening the scoring.

Venezuela equalised within 2 Minutes with a good free-kick to make it 1-1 at the break.

 

the Hosts came out the blocks for the restart but eventually the difference in class told as Uruguay took a 2-1 lead and from then on they controlled the Game.

they scored their 3rd near the end before Forlan scored again in added time.

 

Forlan was a figure of ridicule when he played for MU but i always liked him.

he was always willing and rarely did his head drop.

not really given a chance by Fergie who i think wanted him to succeed but finally lost patience.

but he has done well in Spain and PL Teams are still interested in him.

he will always be a hero to me for his Goals against Liverpool......

 

Chile 1-Brazil 6

 

Brazil finally burst into fire and were 3-0 up within 30 Minutes.

Brazil had already beaten Chile 3-0 in the Group stages and never looked like losing this one.

Brazil finally looked like the Brazil we know with crisp passing and quick Football.

but Chile didn't give up without a fight and hit the bar and had the Brazilian Goalie making a couple of sharp saves.

 

Brazil had increased their lead to 5-0 with 20 Minutes left and RM's Robinho coming off after scoring 2 in the Game and his 6th in total for the Tournament.

looks like he's favourite for the Golden Boot.

 

then Chile pulled one back with what i think was the Goal of the Tournament so far.

Suazo done a little dribble,nutmegged a Defender and then delightfully chipped the Goalie.....

i've liked the look of this Fella,playing in Mexico at the moment but i would put Money on him playing in Europe in the couple of Years.

 

Brazil scored a 6th through Wagner Love who has been a big disappointment the entire Tournament.

Brazil now meet Uruguay in the Semi's and no love lost between these Countries....

 

62 Goals in 20 Games............

[Zaad]

Thanks for the update

Saves me time opening the paper

[sayjann]

Quarter Finals.

 

and the Goals keep coming.

 

Mexico 6-Paraguay 0

 

not a good start for Paraguay as the Goalie concedes a Penalty after 103 Seconds and gets sent off for his sins.

the Penalty was easily scored and Mexico ran the Game and scored twice more before the break to kill off the Game and lead 3-0.

 

Paraguay came out a bit stronger in the 2nd half and had chances to score and 2 of them were very good chances,it might have been a different Game if they had gone in.

but 3 Goals in the last 13 Minutes from Mexico saw them run out easy Winners.

 

Brazil 4-Peru 0.

 

Argentina and espiecially Messi were irresistable in the 1st 20 Minutes.

great possession and passing and could have scored more than once but Peru held out after Messi hit the bar.

Peru didn't make any chances but started to snuff out the Argies....0-0 H/T.

 

Tevez came on at the start of the 2nd half and immediately made an impact.

a run down the right and pass to Requelme resulted in Requelme scoring.

from then on there was only 1 Winner.

Tevez hit the bar before the pass of the Tournament set up Messi for the 2nd Goal.

Tevez was involved in the 3rd Goal with a run down the left which resulted in Messi having his shot saved but Mascherano followed up to score.

 

Peru went looking for a consolation Goal but Argentina broke away and Requelme scored his 2nd to make the Scoreline 4-0.

 

Argentina have looked the best Team so far with 3 outstanding Players.

you can hear the crowd roar whenever Messi gets the ball and he has looked good whenever on the ball.

 

Tevez has normally come off the bench and made an impact.

 

but for me Requelme has been the star,oustanding.

 

22 Goals in the 4 Q/F's and a total of 72 Goals in 22 Games.............that is impressive.

 

S/F line-up.

 

Brazil v Uruguay

Argentina v Mexico.

[sayjann]

1st Semi-Final.

 

Brazil 2-Uruguay 2.

 

Brazil took an early lead through the Defender Maicon.

2 Minutes later one of the floodlights failed and the Game was delayed while the Ref spoke to stadium Officials.

but after 13 Minutes the Game restarted with 3 floodlights.

 

Uruguay didn't let Brazil settle and went on the attack and on several occasions had the Brazilians rattled.

Forlan forced the Goalie into a good save after breaking forward before he equalised with a good shot from the edge of the area following a poor punch from the Goalie following a corner.

 

but within 2 Minutes Brazil regained the lead following a whipped in free-kick by Maicon which had Uruguay flummoxed........2-1 H/T.

 

Uruguay contined to press after the restart and were the better Team and finally equalised with 20 Minutes remaining from a Goal by a Sub following a flick from Forlan.

final score 2-2.

 

with no E/T the Game went straight into Penalties.

Forlan missed the 1st for Uruguay but his Team-mates were successful with the remaining 4.

Brazil also scored 4 so with the score 4-4 it went to sudden death.

Uruguay missed the 1st while Brazil scored and then the Brazilian Goalie saved the next effort to gain a 5-4 win on Panalties for Brazil.

 

deja vu maybe?.

4 Years ago Brazil beat Uruguay on Pens in the Semi and then beat Argentina on Pens in the Final.

with Argentina playing Mexico later could history repeat itself?.

[hatyaiguy]

1st Semi-Final.

 

Brazil 2-Uruguay 2.

 

 

My comment :

 

The second Uruguay goal was a master piece of team work.

 

In the very last penalty shot, Brazilian keeper took two steps away from the goal line prior to the kick. This vastly cut down the angle and his cheating paid off big time.

[sayjann]

yes it was cheating but the actual Pen was a poor one.........

a one-eyed,one-legged Man on crutches could have stopped it.

[hatyaiguy]

yes it was cheating but the actual Pen was a poor one.........

a one-eyed,one-legged Man on crutches could have stopped it.

 

Yes it was indeed a very poor shot. Poor shot by that Uraquay player or not, the rule was another chance to kick due to rule violation by the Brazilian keeper.

 

I doubt any referee had dared to overrule and penalize in that instance. Not sure if this was pointed out in the English commentary since I was watching the game on Spanish network.

 

 

 

 

 

[sayjann]

yes the point was mentioned about 30 times by the commentators and pundits in the studio.

and yes i agree it's something the Ref's should be sorting out.

order a retake for god's sake,they do it if a Player from the Team taking the Pen runs into the area.