Copa America Semi-Finals Begin
Well, no one really read my last Copa America article, but I'll keep writing because, well, this is EXCITING NEWS!
The teams knocked-out in the group stage were no big surprise: Ecuador, Venezuela, Boliva, and Chile. The only borderline surprise was Chile, when Costa Rica knocked them out with a goal in the final minute of their matchup. Had Costa Rica not scored that goal in the nick of time, it would have been a three-way tie in points between Chile, Costa Rica, and Bolivia. Bolivia and Chile would have been tied in the first tie-breaker (Goal differential), but Bolivia would have just edged out on the second tie-breaker (total goals). As it happened though, Costa Rica's last minute goal made all that a mute point.
In the quarter finals though, Colombia shut-down any further Costa Rica advancement with a decisive 2-0 victory. Argentina picked themselves up after a surprising loss to Mexico and beat Peru 1-0. Peru fought hard, but Boca Junior's forward Carlos Tevez put a glorious long one past Peru's keeper, and Peru couldn't answer. (My favorite part of the game though was when Tevez ran onto the field and tapped the referee on the ass. ...then scored three minutes later!)
The final two quarter final matchups, held on Sunday featured the "guays" battling it out, with Uruguay coming out on top of Paraguay 3-1 with a great game played by Uruguay's Dario Silva. Later that evening, in the north of Peru, Brazil had a chance to re-prove themselves against Mexico, which they did decisively with a 4-0 blowout.
The semi-finals begin tonight with Argentina taking on defending champs Colombia. Tomorrow Uruguay will take on World Cup champs Brazil (though its a completely different squad than the 2002 World Cup). Saturday, we'll get to see the 3rd place showdown, while the finals will be held this Sunday.
This week will prove to be one more exciting week of international play in a summer that has been chock-full of great tournaments. After this, it's just Olympics and World Cup Qualifiers...so be sure not to miss out on the longest-running soccer tournament in the world, COPA AMERICA!