Vicente Sanchez rebounded from his decisive missed penalty kick in the semifinals by scoring the game-winner for Uruguay to beat Colombia 2-1 in the Copa America third-place playoff on Saturday.
Sanchez's blocked kick in the penalty shootout helped Brazil win their semifinal, but he made a beautifully weighted left-foot lob over Colombia goalkeeper Juan Carlos Henao for the winner nine minutes from the end.
Fabian Estoyanoff nailed a cross in the third minute for Uruguay, and Sergio Herrera leveled from a penalty in the 71st minute in Peru's historic capital, 500km inland from Lima.
Argentina and Brazil meet in the final on Sunday in Lima.
Uruguay appeared to take the match less seriously than Colombia by retaining only two starters from the semifinals -- defenders Joe Bizera and Carlos Diogo -- but the Celeste dominated the first half and celebrated after the whistle as if they had won their 15th Copa.
The victory ended Uruguay's six-match winless streak to Colombia since 1995, including a 5-0 hiding last month in World Cup qualifying.
"Without a doubt we have played better in Peru than in World Cup qualifying and that has made our Copa America worthwhile," said Uruguay defender Guillermo Rodriguez.
Osasuna forward Richard Morales announced it was his farewell match for Uruguay.
A sumo star was born in Japan on Sunday when 24-year-old Takerufuji became the first wrestler in 110 years to win a top-division tournament on his debut, triumphing at the 15-day Spring Grand Sumo Tournament in Osaka despite injuring his ankle on the penultimate day. Takerufuji, whose injury had left him in a wheelchair outside the ring, shoved out the higher-ranked Gonoyama at the Edion Arena Osaka to the delight of the crowd, giving him an unassailable record of 13 wins and two losses to claim the Emperor’s Cup. “I did it just through willpower. I didn’t really know what was going
The US’ Ilia Malinin on Saturday produced six scintillating quadruple jumps, including a quadruple Axel, in the men’s free skate to capture his first figure skating world title. The 19-year-old nicknamed the “Quad god,” who is the only skater to land a quadruple Axel in competition, dazzled with an array of breathtakingly executed jumps starting with his quad Axel and including a quadruple Lutz in combination with a triple flip and a quadruple toe loop in combination with a triple toe. He added an unexpected triple-triple combination at the end to earn a world-record 227.79 in the free program for a championship
Shohei Ohtani’s interpreter is being criminally investigated by the IRS, and the attorney for his alleged bookmaker said Thursday that the ex-Los Angeles Dodgers employee placed bets on international soccer — but not baseball. The IRS confirmed Thursday that interpreter Ippei Mizuhara and Mathew Bowyer, the alleged illegal bookmaker, are under criminal investigation through the agency’s Los Angeles Field Office. IRS Criminal Investigation spokesperson Scott Villiard said he could not provide additional details. Mizuhara, 39, was fired by the Dodgers on Wednesday following reports from the Los Angeles Times and ESPN about his alleged ties to an illegal bookmaker and debts well
MLB on Friday announced a formal investigation into the scandal swirling around Shohei Ohtani and his former interpreter amid charges that the Los Angeles Dodgers superstar was the victim of “massive theft.” The Dodgers on Wednesday fired Ippei Mizuhara, Ohtani’s long-time interpreter and close friend, after Ohtani’s representatives alleged that the Japanese two-way star had been the victim of theft, which was reported to involve millions of dollars and link Mizuhara to a suspected illegal bookmaker in California. “Major League Baseball has been gathering information since we learned about the allegations involving Shohei Ohtani and Ippei Mizuhara from the news media,” MLB