Group C Copa América 2011

Match reports and highlights from Group A of the 2011 Copa América tournament.

Standings

Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts
Chile	3	2	1	0	4	2	+2	7
Uruguay	3	1	2	0	3	2	+1	5
Peru	3	1	1	1	2	2	0	4
Mexico	3	0	0	3	1	4	-3	0

Chile, Uruguay and Peru progress to the quarter finals.

Results

04-07-11
Uruguay	1-1	Peru
04-07-11
Chile	2-1	Mexico
08-07-11
Uruguay	1-1	Chile
08-07-11
Peru	1-0	Mexico
12-07-11
Chile	1-0	Peru
12-07-11
Uruguay	1-0	Mexico

Match reports

On the fourth day of the event Peru continued the run of surprise results with a 1-1 draw against group C favourites Uruguay. Paolo Guerrero left the Uruguay defence in his wake as he opened the scoring for Peru with an individual effort on the break. Luis Suárez equalised for Uruguay just before half time but neither side could find a second half winner meaning that the tournament had kicked off with 4 draws in the opening five games.

An under-strength and inexperience Mexico side looked like stretching the run of surprise results even further after Néstor Araujo headed them into a first half lead against Chile, however the Chileans mounted an impressive second half fightback to win the game 2-1 and become the first team to bag more than a single goal in the Copa América 2011 tournament. Esteban Paredes tapped in the equaliser at the midpoint of the second half after the Mexico goalkeeper Luis Michel could only deflect a shot from Pablo Contreras directly into his path. Six minutes later Arturo Vidal scored the winner with a thumping header from a Matías Fernández corner kick.

Uruguay and Chile drew their game 1-1, after a goalless first half in which both sides hit the crossbar, Uruguay took the lead in the 54th minute with a nice control and finish from Álvaro Pereira. Alexis Sánchez equalised for Chile in the 65th minute with an impressive strike. The encounter finished 1-1 and was one of the games of the tournament so far, setting up an intreguing final round of group C fixtures.

Peru clambered above Uruguay into second place with a 1-0 win over Mexico but they left it very late to secure the points. It took them until the 83rd minute to find the vital winning goal which was finished by Paolo Guerrero after Mexico failed to clear their lines following a corner kick. The result means that the group favourites in both group A & group C (Argentina & Uruguay) have drawn both of their opening games and need wins in their final fixtures to secure qualification.

In the final group games Chile beat Peru 1-0 with a desperate 92nd minute own goal from Andre Carrillo to win the group and Uruguay found their first win of the tournament with a 1-0 victory against Mexico to leapfrog Peru into second place, as a result Uruguay will face Argentina in the quarter-finals while Peru get a tie against surprise group A winners Colombia.

Golazo: Luis Ramírez, Colombia vs Peru, friendly 2010

Peru national team had a disastrous World Cup 2010 qualification campaign, finishing bottom of the South American qualification table. Under new manager Uruguayan Sergio Markarián there are signs of improvement. On November 17 2010 they traveled to Colombia for an international friendly. Luis Ramírez put the away side ahead with this magnificently controlled volley and Peru claimed a creditable 1-1 draw.

Part of the Golazo series.

Partidazo: Argentina 4-0 Peru, Copa América 2007

On 8 July 2007 Argentina and Peru met in the quarter final of Copa América 2007. Argentina had won all three of their games in the group stage but Peru kept them at bay in the first half.

The second half was a different story with Messi, Riquelme and Tévez combining to devastating effect, even the normally goalshy Javier Mascherano bagged himself one in the 4-0 win.

Argentina progressed to the final having won every game in convincing style with 16 goals over their 5 games. The Brazilians on the other hand were beaten by Mexico in the group stage and only just scraped past Uruguay in the semi finals with a win on penalties. However Argentina imploded in the final losing 3-0.

For more great games involving South American teams, check out the rest of the Partidazo series.

Golazo: Teófilio Cubillas Brazil vs Peru, Copa América 1975

30 September 1975: Brazil hosted Peru in the first leg of the Copa América 1975 semi-final. The score was 1-1 but in the 82nd minute Peru earned a free kick which was curled magnificently into the net by Teofilio Cubillas. Peru went on to score another goal to give them a historic 3-1 win on Brazilian soil and a 2 goal advantage going into their home leg.

Brazil won the 2nd leg 2-0 so the winners were chosen by the drawing of lots, Peru were picked as the winners and went on to beat Colombia in the final to secure their 2nd continental championship.

Part of the Golazo series.

Golazo: Roberto Palacios, Peru vs Bolivia, Copa América 2004

6 July 2004: Legendary Peruvian striker Roberto Palacios marked his record breaking 106th appearance for the Peru national team with this wonderful goal. It came in an entertaining 2-2 draw against Bolivia in the group stage of the 2004 Copa América tournament hosted by Peru.

This goal could be seen as the highlight of the tournament for the hosts, they were eliminated in the quarter finals after a 0-1 defeat to Argentina, Carlos Tévez scoring the only goal of the game with a superb free kick.

Part of the Golazo series.

Golazo: Juan Carlos Oblitas, PERU vs Chile, Copa América 1975: Chilena vs Chile

There is a small amount of controversy in South America over what to call the bicycle kick. Nearly everyone calls it the "Chilena" (meaning Chilean) as it was a speciality of Ramón Unzaga who used the technique in the early 20th Century. The Argentine press labelled the technique the "Chilena" when they first saw it executed by Unzaga in an early edition of the Copa América.

The only people who call it by another name are the Peruvians, who call it the "Chalaca" (meaning from Callao) as they claim it was invented by an unspecified person in the port of Callao and then copied by the Chileans. The evidence is pretty tenuous, one academic claims to have seen proof in a very old (and unspecified) book, and that is about as much as they can come up with. The Peruvians remain fiercely possessive of the move and insist in referring to it in a way that nobody else in South America understands.

When the two sides met in the group stage of the Copa América in 1975, Juan Carlos Oblitas executed one of the most famous "Chalacas" in the history of South Américan football, taking a couple of touches before firing the overhead into the Chilean goal. Despite Peruvian objections it would seem like a dreadful wasted opportunity not to claim that he scored a great "Chilena" against Chile.

Peru went on to beat Chile 3-1 to qualify for the next round in which they famously beat Brazil. They were eventually crowned 1975 Copa América champions after winning a 3rd leg tiebreaker against Colombia.

Part of the Golazo series.