Paolo Guerrero fired Peru to a third-place playoff victory over Paraguay on Friday to stay in the hunt for Copa America top-scorer honors.
The Flamengo striker, top scorer at the 2011 Copa America, bagged his fourth goal of this year’s tournament with a late strike as Peru completed a 2-0 victory over Paraguay in Comcepcion, Chile.
The goal saw Guerrero join Chile’s Eduardo Vargas as the joint top-scorer.
Photo: AFP
The 31-year-old’s 25th international goal also edged him closer to overhauling Peru legend Teofilo Cubillas’ national record of 26 goals.
Peru’s other goal came from Andre Carrillo in the 48th minute.
A dangerous corner by Peru’s highly rated midfielder Christian Cueva was headed into the path of Carrillo by Paraguay’s Raul Bobadilla.
Photo: Reuters
The 24-year-old met the clearance with a sweetly struck volley which flew into the bottom corner past the dive of Paraguay goalkeeper Justo Villar.
Paraguay, thrashed 6-1 by Argentina in the semi-finals last week, raised their game fleetingly and almost snatched an equalizer on 68 minutes, only for striker Edgar Benitez to be denied by a superb block by Peru midfielder Carlos Ascues.
Peru’s win saw them repeat their third-place finish at the 2011 Copa America.
Bologna on Thursday advanced past Empoli to reach their first Coppa Italia final in more than half a century. Thijs Dallinga’s 87th-minute header earned Bologna a 2-1 win and his side advanced 5-1 on aggregate. Giovanni Fabbian opened the scoring for Bologna with a header seven minutes in. Then Viktor Kovalenko equalized for Empoli in the 30th minute by turning in a rebound to finish off a counterattack. Bologna won the first leg 3-0. In the May 14 final in Rome, Bologna are to face AC Milan, who eliminated city rivals Inter 4-1 on aggregate following a 3-0 win on Wednesday. Bologna last reached the
If the Wild finally break through and win their first playoff series in a decade, Minnesota’s top line likely will be the reason. They were all over the Golden Knights through the first two games of their NHL Western Conference quarter-finals series, which was 1-1 going back to Minnesota for Game 3 today. The Wild tied the series with a 5-2 win on Tuesday. Matt Boldy had three goals and an assist in the first two games, while Kirill Kaprizov produced two goals and three assists. Joel Eriksson Ek, who centers the line, has yet to get on the scoresheet. “I think the biggest
From a commemorative jersey to a stadium in his name, Argentine soccer organizers are planning a slew of tributes to their late “Captain” Pope Francis, eulogized as the ultimate team player. Tributes to the Argentine pontiff, a lifelong lover of the game, who died on Monday at the age of 88, have been peppered with soccer metaphors in his homeland. “Francisco. What a player,” the Argentine Football Federation (AFA) said, describing the first pope from Latin America and the southern hemisphere as a generational talent who “never hogged the ball” and who showed the world “the importance of having an Argentine captain,
The Minnesota Timberwolves, with so many promising performances spoiled by late mistakes fresh in their memory bank, sure timed this strong finish well. Jaden McDaniels scored a career playoff-high 30 points and spearheaded Minnesota’s stifling defense on an ailing Luka Doncic, and the Timberwolves beat the Los Angeles Lakers 116-104 to take a 2-1 lead in the best-of-seven Western Conference first-round series in Minneapolis, Minnesota, on Friday night. “Jaden never looks tired. He looks like he could play 48 minutes,” said teammate Anthony Edwards, who had 29 points, eight rebounds and eight assists. Julius Randle added 22 points for the Wolves, who outscored