Uruguay reached the Copa America final on Tuesday with a 2-0 win over Peru to book a showdown with either giantkillers Venezuela or Paraguay.
Liverpool star Luis Suarez scored both goals in the second half at La Plata as Uruguay, who put out hosts Argentina in the quarter-finals, kept on course for what would be a record 15th win in the world’s oldest international soccer tournament.
“It was a very tough game in the first half and we lacked a little clarity, though we kept trying to make chances,” said Suarez, who went level in the scoring stakes with Argentina’s Sergio Aguero on three goals.
Photo: EPA
Referring to a more cagey affair against Argentina in the previous round, he told broadcaster TyC Sports: “This was a game where we had to come out and attack, and fortunately that’s what we did.”
Experienced Uruguay coach Oscar Tabarez, who led the Charruas to the World Cup semi-finals last summer, said experience was the key to success.
“We had to draw on all our experience. The group have known each other a long time,” Tabarez said. “We are very, very happy to be in the final — but Sunday is still a long way away. We will need to maintain our organization and discipline.”
Photo: Reuters
After a bright start by Peru, with Luis Advincula looking lively in midfield, Uruguay increasingly found their feet and began to boss the encounter, but Peru held them at bay, without ever looking as if they would pull another rabbit out of the hat, having knocked fancied Colombia out at the quarter-final stage.
After the break, veteran forward Diego Forlan began to turn the screw for Uruguay and it was the Atletico Madrid man who finally found a way through seven minutes after the restart.
The former Manchester United misfit fired in a majestic left-footed shot which goalkeeper Raul Fernandez was only able to parry and Suarez reacted in a flash to bury the rebound from point-blank range.
Five minutes later, La Celeste put the contest to bed, Suarez beating the offside trap and sidestepping the goalkeeper, before sliding home into the empty net.
With Forlan increasingly bossing the game, Uruguay, whose last title came in 1995, could have extended their advantage, but Peru would not lie down and Paolo Guerrero hit a speculative effort which goalkeeper Fernando Muslera did well to clutch at the second attempt.
However, Peru had given themselves too much to do after the second goal and their mission was impossible after Bolivian referee Raul Orosco sent off Juan Vargas midway through the second half for a foul on Sebastian Coates.
“We stood up well to them — but this is football and now we have to switch focus to the World Cup qualifiers,” Guerrero said.
Revelations of positive doping tests for nearly two dozen Chinese swimmers that went unpunished sparked an intense flurry of accusations and legal threats between the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) and the head of the US drug-fighting organization, who has long been one of WADA’s fiercest critics. WADA on Saturday said it was turning to legal counsel to address a statement released by US Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) CEO Travis Tygart, who said WADA and anti-doping authorities in China swept positive tests “under the carpet by failing to fairly and evenly follow the global rules that apply to everyone else in the world.” The
Taiwanese judoka Yang Yung-wei on Saturday won silver in the men’s under-60kg category at the Asian Judo Championships in Hong Kong. Nicknamed the “judo heartthrob” in Taiwan, the Olympic silver-medalist missed out on his first Asian Championships gold when he lost to Japanese judoka Taiki Nakamura in the finals. Yang defeated three opponents on Saturday to reach the final after receiving a bye through the round of 32. He first topped Laotian Soukphaxay Sithisane in the round of 16 with two seoi nage (over-the-shoulder throws), then ousted Indian Vijay Kumar Yadav in the quarter-finals with his signature ude hishigi sankaku gatame (triangular armlock). He
Rafael Nadal on Wednesday said the upcoming French Open would be the moment to “give everything and die” on the court after his comeback from injury in Barcelona was curtailed by Alex de Minaur. The 22-time Grand Slam title winner, back playing this week after three months on the sidelines, battled well, but eventually crumbled 7-5, 6-1 against the world No. 11 from Australia in the second round. Nadal, 37, who missed virtually all of last season, is hoping to compete at the French Open next month where he is the record 14-time champion. The Spaniard said the clash with De Minaur was
RALLY: It was only the second time the Taiwanese has partnered with Kudermetova, and the match seemed tight until they won seven points in a row to take the last set 10-2 Taiwan’s Chan Hao-ching and Russia’s Veronika Kudermetova on Sunday won the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix women’s doubles final in Stuttgart, Germany. The pair defeated Norway’s Ulrikke Eikeri and Estonia’s Ingrid Neel 4-6, 6-3, 10-2 in a tightly contested match at the WTA 500 tournament. Chan and Kudermetova fell 4-6 in the first set after having their serve broken three times, although they played increasingly well. They fought back in the second set and managed to break their opponents’ serve in the eighth game to triumph 6-3. In the tiebreaker, Chan and Kudermetova took a 3-0 lead before their opponents clawed back two points, but