After being counted out by most, Peru on Wednesday pulled off a stunning Copa America comeback.
Two weeks after a demoralizing 5-0 loss to Brazil that left them on the verge of a first-round elimination, Peru got past two-time defending champions Chile 3-0 to make it to the continental final for the first time since 1975.
Peru had already stunned title-favorites Uruguay in the quarter-finals after advancing as one of the two best third-place finishers from the three groups, and now they will get a rematch against hosts Brazil in Sunday’s final at the Maracana.
Photo: AFP
“We are a team that knows how to overcome adversities,” Peru coach Ricardo Gareca said. “That’s something very unique to our team. That loss [against Brazil] would hurt any team, but we were able to recover from it. We deserve a lot of credit for that.”
Chile were trying to become the first team to win three straight Copa America titles since Argentina in the 1940s, but now are to play the third-place match against Argentina tomorrow in a repeat of the past two finals.
“We entered the match already thinking about the final and that’s how we allowed Peru to surprise us,” Chile coach Reinaldo Rueda said. “We didn’t show the attitude and aggressiveness from the previous matches.”
Chile’s loss to longtime rivals Peru would add pressure on Rueda, a Colombian who has been criticized since he took over the squad at the beginning of last year.
The result will also raise further questions about its so-called golden generation, which failed to qualify for last year’s FIFA World Cup in Russia.
The veterans of Chile’s recent triumphs, including Eduardo Vargas, Arturo Vidal and Alexis Sanchez, had subpar performances at the Arena Gremio in Porto Alegre.
Despite a team without the same quality as Chile, it was Peru who got off to a good start and dominated the match early on.
“When this team wants something, it works hard and gets it,” Peru striker Paolo Guerrero said. “We deserved to make it to the final. We were fully focused from the start.”
Edinson Flores opened the scoring with a shot from inside the area in the 21st minute and Yoshimar Yotun added to the lead in the 38th with a strike into the open net after Chile goalkeeper Gabriel Arias left the area to try to stop a counterattack.
Guerrero sealed the victory in a breakaway in stoppage-time to become the Copa America’s all-time leading scorer among active players with 13 goals.
Chile’s Eduardo Vargas could have matched Guerrero when his team were awarded a penalty-kick in the final seconds, but he had his weak shot from the spot saved by Peru goalkeeper Pedro Gallese.
Gallese had a great performance to stop Chile’s attack, which faltered during most of the match, despite creating most of the scoring chances.
The Peru goalkeeper made an embarrassing mistake in the rout against Brazil, but had already saved penalty-kicks by Uruguay’s Luis Suarez and Brazil’s Gabriel Jesus.
Peru, who last year made their first World Cup appearance in 36 years, were playing in the semi-finals for the third time in the past four Copa Americas.
They had lost seven of their past eight competitive matches against Chile, including in the semi-finals of the Copa America in 2015.
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