Striker Eduardo Vargas scored twice to lead Chile to a 2-1 win over 10-man Peru in the semi-finals of the Copa America on Monday, keeping alive the host’s hopes of winning the South American tournament for the first time.
Vargas scored the winner with a long-range shot in the 64th minute, sending the home-crowd favorites to their first Copa America final in 28 years.
The winning score came only three minutes after Peru equalized with an own goal by defender Gary Medel. Vargas had opened the scoring in the 42nd.
Photo: AFP
Chile struggled early against their regional rivals, but the momentum shifted after Peru defender Carlos Zambrano was sent off for hitting Chilean midfielder Charles Aranguiz on the back during a challenge only 20 minutes into the match.
Argentina, led by Lionel Messi, were to meet Paraguay in the other semi-final match yesterday. The final is on Saturday.
SURPRISE PACKET
Photo: AFP
Peru were trying to win their third Copa America and first since 1975.
The team also lost in the semi-finals in 2011 to eventual champion Uruguay and finished third.
Peru had been the surprise of the tournament so far after advancing from a group that included Brazil and Colombia, both of whom have already been eliminated.
Photo: AFP
The last time Chile had made it to the Copa America final was in 1987, when they lost to Uruguay.
The Chileans have been dominant from the start of this year’s tournament, playing at home with their best team in years.
However, Peru made it difficult for the hosts at the Estadio Nacional on Monday, threatening several times on counterattacks, even after going a man down.
Vargas opened the scoring off a rebound from Alexis Sanchez’s curling shot from outside the area.
The ball struck the far post and returned straight to Vargas, who rolled it into the net.
The striker appeared to be slightly offside at the time of Sanchez’s shot, but the referee let the play continue.
Peru equalized when Medel found his own net while trying to intercept a right-side cross by Luis Advincula.
However, five minutes later, Vargas gave Chile the lead again, sending a right-footed shot from outside the area over Peru goalkeeper Pedro Gallese, who was out of position.
It was Vargas’ fourth goal of the tournament, allowing him to surpass teammate Arturo Vidal and Peru’s Paolo Guerrero as the competition’s leading scorer.
CONTROVERSY
Vargas also had a goal disallowed for offside in the 49th, though the replay showed he appeared to be in good position to score.
Peru had the game’s first chance of the match with a dangerous header by forward Jefferson Farfan in the ninth minute. The ball struck the post with Chile goalkeeper Claudio Bravo already beaten on the play.
Chile was without central defender Gonzalo Jara, who was suspended for two matches for poking Edinson Cavani’s behind in the quarter-finals against Uruguay.
CONMEBOL, football’s governing body in South America, initially suspended Jara for three matches, but the punishment was reduced on appeal.
Chile, Venezuela and Ecuador are the only teams yet to win the South American championship.
Bayer 04 Leverkusen go into today’s match at TSG 1899 Hoffenheim stung from their first league defeat in 16 months. Leverkusen were beaten 3-2 at home by RB Leipzig before the international break, the first loss since May last year for the reigning league and cup champions. While any defeat, particularly against a likely title rival, would have disappointed coach Xabi Alonso, the way in which it happened would be most concerning. Just as they did in the Supercup against VfB Stuttgart and in the league opener to Borussia Moenchengladbach, Leverkusen scored first, but were pegged back. However, while Leverkusen rallied late to
If all goes well when the biggest marathon field ever gathered in Australia races 42km through the streets of Sydney on Sunday, World Marathon Majors (WMM) will soon add a seventh race to the elite series. The Sydney Marathon is to become the first race since Tokyo in 2013 to join long-established majors in New York, London, Boston, Berlin and Chicago if it passes the WMM assessment criteria for the second straight year. “We’re really excited for Sunday to arrive,” race director Wayne Larden told a news conference in Sydney yesterday. “We’re prepared, we’re ready. All of our plans look good on
The lights dimmed and the crowd hushed as Karoline Kristensen entered for her performance. However, this was no ordinary Dutch theater: The temperature was 80°C and the audience naked apart from a towel. Dressed in a swimsuit and to the tune of emotional music, the 21-year-old Kristensen started her routine, performed inside a large sauna, with a bed of hot rocks in the middle. For a week this month, a group of wellness practitioners, called “sauna masters,” are gathering at a picturesque health resort in the Netherlands to compete in this year’s Aufguss world sauna championships. The practice takes its name from a
When details from a scientific experiment that could have helped clear Russian figure skater Kamila Valieva landed at the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA), the leader of the organization’s reaction was unequivocal: “We have to stop that urgently,” he wrote. No mention of the test ever became public and Valieva’s defense at the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) went on without it. What effect the information could have had on Valieva’s case is unclear, but without it, the skater, then 15 years old, was eventually disqualified from the 2022 Winter Olympics after testing positive for a banned heart medication that would later
RSS