Paraguay ended Brazil's 13-game unbeaten streak 2-1 and Costa Rica overcame Chile 2-1 deep in injury time to grab the last quarterfinal berth at the Copa America on Wednesday.
Brazil's defeat sent it from Peru's deep south to the far north for a weekend quarterfinal against Mexico, the previous team to beat Brazil -- effectively its under-23 side -- in the Gold Cup final in July last year.
Paraguay won Group C and will meet Uruguay, which ended up being the best third-placed team.
PHOTO: REUTERS
"I'm very proud, we beat a first-class team," Paraguay coach Carlos Jara Saguier said. "Now comes the hard part, but we intend to bring the Copa home."
Costa Rica advanced as the second-best third-place team and into a playoff against defending champion Colombia. Andy Herron's goal three minutes into second-half injury time at Tacna eliminated Chile and Bolivia, the Group A side which would have qualified if the score had remained 1-1.
Peru and Argentina meet in the other quarterfinal.
PHOTO: AP
Paraguay striker Fredy Bareiro ended a 1-1 deadlock with Brazil in the 71st minute, beating defender Luisao and shooting past Brazil goalkeeper Julio Cesar.
"This loss should be a warning to us," Brazil coach Carlos Alberto Parreira said. "In the playoffs we won't be able to make these mistakes.
"Luckily, this loss doesn't set us back in our plans to reach the final. It came in a good moment."
Striker Julio Gonzalez put Paraguay ahead with a header off a corner in the 29th, and Luis Fabiano equalized with a hard right-footer from inside the box in the 35th. He chested the ball away from a defender before shooting high into the net, giving no chance to Paraguay 'keeper Diego Barreto.
"Unfortunately we let this one slip by," Fabiano said. "Now we need to correct our mistakes and get ready to face Mexico."
Paraguay played a man short from the 74th as defender Emilio Martinez was sent off for a foul on Brazil defender Gustavo Nery.
It was Paraguay's first Copa America win against Brazil since 1979 in Paraguay. The two-time Copa champions had lost five in a row. Overall, Paraguay has won 10 of 74 matches against Brazil, losing 47 and drawing 17.
Brazil's loss came on the 30th anniversary of coach Parreira's first career start as a head coach, and ensured no team finished the Copa's group phase with a perfect 3-0 record.
And with 55 goals from 18 group games at more than 3 per game, the Copa was on track for the highest average output since the 1975 event.
Just when a thriller at Tacna appeared set to end in a draw, Herron came out of seemingly nowhere and blasted the game-winner from the right past Chile 'keeper Alex Varas.
Chile captain Rafael Olarra had shouldered the ball into the goal in the 40th, and Mauricio Wright tapped in for the tying score in the 59th.
"Chile controlled the game in the first half, but we were the ones who were able to define the game," said Costa Rica coach Jorge Luis Pinto. "We had a demolishing counterattack."
Chile will surely depart the Copa crestfallen, having conceded late goals in all three of its group matches. It lost to Brazil 1-0 in the last minute, yielded a late 1-1 equalizer to Paraguay, and watched Herron drive a dagger shot into its goal and hearts, despite knowing a draw would knock them out.
"Our biggest problem was that we failed to close out games," said Chile coach Juvenal Olmos.
Busy Chile midfielder Rodrigo Valenzuela, who drew three yellow cards from Costa Rica players, attracted the first two in quick succession when he was fouled by Cristian Badilla and Leonardo Gonzalez. The second one led to the free kick from which Olarra scored.
Olarra was in the right place at the right time. Luis Jimenez's free kick glanced off the head of defender Badilla and in off Olarra's turning right shoulder.
It could have been 2-0 seven minutes after the break, but Jimenez's hard shot hit the underside of the crossbar and bounced out.
Pinto, appointed as Costa Rica coach only two weeks before the Copa, changed his lineup at halftime by fielding three forwards, in search of the win.
"I decided we had to go for it and the tactical change made all the difference," he said.
Costa Rica equalized just before the hour mark. Alonso Solis' free kick rebounded to teammate Walter Centeno, whose blast from the right might have gone in if it wasn't accidentally trapped in the goalmouth by the long legs of Wright, who had an easy tap-in.
The result was a double celebration for Costa Rica captain Luis Marin, who made his 100th international appearance.
Both invited guests from CONCACAF, Costa Rica and Mexico, made it to the last eight for a second consecutive Copa. In 2001, Costa Rica lost in the quarterfinals and Mexico went to the final.
Olmos said Chile's early exit was a worrying sign that the country's pool of quality players was dwindling. The elimination was "a smack in the face of our reality," he said. "It should serve as a wakeup call about our universe of players. An injury or a suspension has an immediate impact on our team."
Colombia and Peru will find that out this weekend, after the Copa disciplinary committee handed one-game bans to Colombia's Arley Dinas and Gonzalo Martinez, and Peru's Jefferson Farfan, for accumulating two yellow cards.
US track and field athletes have about four dozen pieces to choose from when assembling their uniforms at the Olympics. The one grabbing the most attention is a high-cut leotard that barely covers the bikini line and has triggered debate between those who think it is sexist and others who say they do not need the Internet to make sure they have good uniforms. Among those critical or laughing at the uniforms included Paralympian Femita Ayanbeku, sprinter Britton Wilson and even athletes from other countries such as Britain’s Abigail Irozuru, who wrote on social media: “Was ANY female athlete consulted in
Four-time NBA all-star DeMarcus Cousins arrived in Taiwan with his family early yesterday to finish his renewed contract with the Taiwan Beer Leopards in the T1 League. Cousins initially played a four-game contract with the Leopards in January. On March 18, the Taoyuan-based team announced that Cousins had renewed his contract. “Hi what’s up Leopard fans, I’m back. I’m excited to be back and can’t wait to join the team,” Cousins said in a video posted on the Leopard’s Facebook page. “Most of all, can’t wait to see you guys, the fans, next weekend. So make sure you come out and support the Beer
Forget Real Madrid, Manchester City or Paris Saint-Germain, the world’s best soccer team — statistically speaking — might be a little-known outfit from the closed central Asian nation of Turkmenistan. Founded last year, Arkadag, named in honor of former Turkmen president Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedow, have been unstoppable, notching up 36 consecutive domestic victories in a run still ongoing. The side have not lost a single competitive match and swept to a league and cup double in their inaugural season — success unthinkable almost anywhere else. However, in Turkmenistan, it could hardly have gone any other way. The energy-rich country is one of the most closed
Former US Masters champion Zach Johnson was left embarrassed after a foul-mouthed response to ironic cheers from spectators after a triple bogey at Augusta National on Friday. Johnson, the 2007 Masters winner, missed the cut after his three-over-par round of 75 left him on seven-over 151 for 36 holes, his six on the par-three 12th playing a big role in his downfall. Television footage showed Johnson reacting to sarcastic cheers and applause when he tapped in for the triple bogey by yelling: “Oh fuck off.” Such a response would be considered bad form in any golf tournament, but is particularly out of keeping