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.
Manchester United on Tuesday confirmed Michael Carrick as interim manager until the end of the season, tasking him with leading the Red Devils back into the UEFA Champions League. “Having the responsibility to lead Manchester United is an honor,” said Carrick, 44, who won 12 major trophies in his 12-year playing career at United. The former midfielder previously had an unbeaten three-game stint as caretaker boss at Old Trafford in 2021. Carrick then took on his first permanent managerial role at second-tier Middlesbrough in October 2022 and was sacked in June last year after the club finished 10th in the
Dallas Mavericks rookie Cooper Flagg on Wednesday was ruled out for the second half of their 118-109 loss to the Denver Nuggets after the No. 1 pick sprained his left ankle in the first half. Flagg was called for a foul while defending against Peyton Watson and turned the ankle as he fell to the floor with 6 minutes, 1 second left in the second quarter. Flagg limped to the bench and continued to the locker room, but returned for the final 2 minutes, 35 seconds before the break. The 19-year-old did not come out for the second half before the announcement that
Yassine Bounou on Wednesday saved two penalties, while Youssef en-Nesyri netted the decisive spot-kick as hosts Morocco secured a 4-2 shoot-out victory over Nigeria following a 0-0 draw in a tense Africa Cup of Nations semi-final in Rabat. Morocco, seeking their first continental title in 50 years, are to face 2021 winners Senegal in Sunday’s decider in Rabat, while Nigeria take on Egypt in the third-place playoff tomorrow. The 120 minutes before the shoot-out had few clear-cut chances for either side, but it was Morocco who created more opportunities, although they were denied by some fine saves from Nigeria goalkeeper Stanley Nwabali. Nigeria
James Harden on Friday scored 31 points and came up big in overtime to help the Los Angeles Clippers erase a double-digit deficit on the way to a 121-117 NBA victory over the Toronto Raptors. Harden scored 16 points in the fourth quarter and overtime as the Clippers pushed their wining steak to five games despite the absence of star Kawhi Leonard with a sprained right ankle. The Clippers trailed by 11 entering the fourth quarter, but Harden drilled a pair of free-throws with 1:24 left in regulation to tie it and after misses from both teams, they went to
RSS