Copa America 2007 is finally over. The Final gave us one last surprise (if surprise it be) as Brazil convincingly beat Argentina 3-0 to win the trophy for the eighth time.
Despite now winning three of the previous four tournaments, Brazil didn't enter the Final as favourites on this occasion. Some muted performances early on, including a defeat at the hands of Mexico, meant that the smart money went on Argentina.
The Albicelestes began their campaign with the sort of confident, skilful football that caught the eye at the start of the 2006 World Cup. They were the only team to win all three of their first round games in the 2007 Copa America and having qualified for the Final they could claim sixteen goals scored and only three conceded.
With players like Riquelme, Tevez, Crespo and Mascherano all on top form, Argentina looked set to win the trophy for the first time since 1993. Sadly the similarities with their 2006 World Cup campaign remained evident right to the end as their strong start ended all too soon.
Julio Baptista gave Brazil the best of starts after just four minutes when he collected Elano's long ball down the right and smashed in a fine shot past Argentinean goalkeeper Roberto Abbondanzieri.
Argentina almost equalised straight after that when Riquelme saw a left-foot strike come back off the near post but a few minutes later Doni in the Brazilian goal had to palm away a curling Riquelme shot to deny the Boca Juniors front man again.
But the game finally swung fully in Brazil's favour five minutes before half time when Ayala stretched out a leg to block a cross from Alves on the right wing and ended up poking the ball past the stranded Abbondanzieri into his own net.
The second half saw a depleted-looking Argentina lacking a little conviction in their attacking play and what did amount to any serious challenges on goal were easily dealt with by the Brazilian defence.
As Argentina opened up more and more in search of a first goal, so Brazil reverted more and more to counter-attacking play and this proved effective when Vagner Love slipped a ball through to Alves on the right side of the penalty area to make it 3-0.
And so it was that Brazil triumphed once again, proving that a slow start is not necessarily a bad thing - so long as you can build on it throughout the rest of the competition. As the old Dorothy Fields song goes, 'it's not where you start, it's where you finish' and as any fan of the Spanish national team at the World Cup will testify, success is nothing unless you can make it happen in the Final.
Showing posts with label Copa America. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Copa America. Show all posts
Tuesday, 17 July 2007
Saturday, 14 July 2007
Copa America 2007: Semi Final Review
Written by Chris (B Squad)
As a prelude to the upcoming Copa America final, I thought I would recap the semi finals. Both matches were incredibly entertaining and well worth the price of admission. It is a bit disappointing to have a Brazil/Argentina final, only in the sense that it seemed predestined. The final is sure to be class in every way. It is just unfortunate that industry has lost out to imagination.
Brazil 2-2 Uruguay (Brazil win 5-4 on penalties)
This match was fabulous. Uruguay worked so hard, but you got the feeling it would never be enough to get over the hump. Brazil, in this game as in all the others of this competition, played lackadaisical with the occasional sprinkle of magic. Each time Brazil scored it seemed to be the end for Uruguay, but to their credit they never gave in.
Forlan was at the top of his game. The first goal was very well taken and the flick on to Abreu for the second was genius. I've never particularly liked Uruguay, but when the ball tumbled over the keeper, I jumped from my couch. It may have been a little schadenfreude, but it was mostly just the culmination of a truly exciting match. And I know Brazil should have had a few penalties calls and should never have been in the position to go to penalties. They may have had some good karma on their side because of it.
As for the shootout, Uruguay had every chance to send Brazil home and failed. Forlan delivered what could be one the worst spot kicks I have ever seen. From hero to goat seems to be his lot in life. And after so many shots off the post, Uruguay stood with one kick for victory, and it hit the post.
Now I don't agree with the way Brazil won, and I wish FIFA would address this (and I'm a Liverpool fan), but as I said, Brazil had some karma in the bank. Maybe the blackout in the middle of the match was foreshadowing for Uruguay. I do have to say that Uruguay have been incredibly poor sports about losing. Both in this competition and in the U-20 World Cup, Uruguay start fights after the final whistle. Overall, though, a very respectable tournament for them. And there is yet another final for the Brazilians.
Argentina 3-0 Mexico
This scoreline is deceiving. The match was much closer than 3-0 and Mexico was unlucky to fall in the way that they did. But football is all about finishing, and that's what separated these two sides. Mexico would have been up 2-0 in the first half but for a few inches and some white posts.
Riquelme was transcendent, despite being hacked down constantly. The free kick that resulted in the opening goal was nothing short of incredible, good finish from Heinze as well. Again in the second half, Mexico had opportunities and went begging.
Then their was the Messi wondergoal, which, for me, was the goal of the cup. He will soon be pressing to be the best player on the planet, if he isn't already. Riquelme put the icing on the cake with a very Zidanesque penalty on a soft foul call at the edge of the box. Nonetheless, considering how he has played, you'd have to say he deserved it.
(Side note: While writing this, I'm watching the '93 Copa Final, which Argentina won over Mexico thanks to a Batistuta brace. It's funny how you remember these players as great, but it's not until you see the replays years later that you appreciate how truly skilled they were.)
So on to the Final, which is destined to be filled with skill, trickery, and bit of histrionics. Brazil has the class to win, but you would have to favor Argentina. Riquelme, Tevez, Messi, and the high-scoring Mascherano (who knew), will just be too much for the Brazilians to contain.
As a prelude to the upcoming Copa America final, I thought I would recap the semi finals. Both matches were incredibly entertaining and well worth the price of admission. It is a bit disappointing to have a Brazil/Argentina final, only in the sense that it seemed predestined. The final is sure to be class in every way. It is just unfortunate that industry has lost out to imagination.
Brazil 2-2 Uruguay (Brazil win 5-4 on penalties)
This match was fabulous. Uruguay worked so hard, but you got the feeling it would never be enough to get over the hump. Brazil, in this game as in all the others of this competition, played lackadaisical with the occasional sprinkle of magic. Each time Brazil scored it seemed to be the end for Uruguay, but to their credit they never gave in.
Forlan was at the top of his game. The first goal was very well taken and the flick on to Abreu for the second was genius. I've never particularly liked Uruguay, but when the ball tumbled over the keeper, I jumped from my couch. It may have been a little schadenfreude, but it was mostly just the culmination of a truly exciting match. And I know Brazil should have had a few penalties calls and should never have been in the position to go to penalties. They may have had some good karma on their side because of it.
As for the shootout, Uruguay had every chance to send Brazil home and failed. Forlan delivered what could be one the worst spot kicks I have ever seen. From hero to goat seems to be his lot in life. And after so many shots off the post, Uruguay stood with one kick for victory, and it hit the post.
Now I don't agree with the way Brazil won, and I wish FIFA would address this (and I'm a Liverpool fan), but as I said, Brazil had some karma in the bank. Maybe the blackout in the middle of the match was foreshadowing for Uruguay. I do have to say that Uruguay have been incredibly poor sports about losing. Both in this competition and in the U-20 World Cup, Uruguay start fights after the final whistle. Overall, though, a very respectable tournament for them. And there is yet another final for the Brazilians.
Argentina 3-0 Mexico
This scoreline is deceiving. The match was much closer than 3-0 and Mexico was unlucky to fall in the way that they did. But football is all about finishing, and that's what separated these two sides. Mexico would have been up 2-0 in the first half but for a few inches and some white posts.
Riquelme was transcendent, despite being hacked down constantly. The free kick that resulted in the opening goal was nothing short of incredible, good finish from Heinze as well. Again in the second half, Mexico had opportunities and went begging.
Then their was the Messi wondergoal, which, for me, was the goal of the cup. He will soon be pressing to be the best player on the planet, if he isn't already. Riquelme put the icing on the cake with a very Zidanesque penalty on a soft foul call at the edge of the box. Nonetheless, considering how he has played, you'd have to say he deserved it.
(Side note: While writing this, I'm watching the '93 Copa Final, which Argentina won over Mexico thanks to a Batistuta brace. It's funny how you remember these players as great, but it's not until you see the replays years later that you appreciate how truly skilled they were.)
So on to the Final, which is destined to be filled with skill, trickery, and bit of histrionics. Brazil has the class to win, but you would have to favor Argentina. Riquelme, Tevez, Messi, and the high-scoring Mascherano (who knew), will just be too much for the Brazilians to contain.
Monday, 9 July 2007
Copa America 2007 Update
2007 is obviously the year for continental tournaments as no sooner were the United States crowned champions of North and Central America than we followed them into the South American Championships in Venezuela. Yes, the Copa America is back in town again.
Since June 26th, the ten nations of CONMEBOL along with guest participants Mexico and the USA have been battling it out in three groups of four to earn a place in the quarter finals. Here's how things panned out in Round 1, along with news from the recent quarter final matches:
Group A
Hosts Venezuela were the main attraction of Group A and the home fans weren't disappointed as all four teams pretty much cancelled each other out to their advantage.
Peru started the strongest with a surprising 3-0 win over Uruguay while Venezuela twice allowed Bolivia to draw level in a match that finished 2-2.
Four days later and it was all change - Peru lost 2-0 to a rampant Venezuela with Uruguay picking up their first win in a narrow 1-0 victory over Bolivia.
Come July 3rd, it was all to play for - Venezuela had four points, Uruguay and Peru had three and Bolivia had one. Any team could finish in the top two automatic qualifying places in the group, let alone third which could be good enough in the long term.
In the end, the final two games brought about two draws. Bolivia let two leads slip against Peru as Venezuela had done against them before and the hosts themselves tied 0-0 against Uruguay. To the delight of the majority of the fans, Venezuela finished top of the group with five points, Peru qualifying for the quarter finals in second on four, but would Uruguay's four points in third be good enough? One thing was for certain - we wouldn't be seeing more of a battling Bolivian team who ended the tournament bottom of Group A with two draws and a defeat from their three games.
Group B
This group was surely cut and dried right from the start - Brazil and Mexico to qualify, right? After the first round of games, no-one seemed quite so sure as Brazil faltered to a 2-0 defeat to the Mexicans which only highlighted the somewhat experimental look to Dunga's Copa America squad.
Chile, meanwhile, came back from behind twice to win 3-2 against Ecudaor, thanks largely to two Humberto Suazo goals. It was the Chileans that Brazil faced next with something of a face-saving exercise to be done, and so it was, thanks to the efforts of one man - Robinho. His hat-trick, which included a penalty in the 36th minute, flattened Chile and opened up the group in one fell swoop.
The Mexican steamroller had earlier had the same effect on Ecuador as Nery Castillo scored his second of the tournament in a 2-1 victory. Mexico were through to the quarter finals, but would Brazil or Chile claim the second spot?
As luck would have it, the chance for Brazil to complete their re-emergence in the competition would take place against an Ecuador side who almost certainly couldn't qualify. Yet again, however, Brazil would struggle and it was only because of another Robinho penalty in the 56th minute that they managed to seal the extra win they needed.
Chile's task was all the more difficult as their last match saw them go head to head with a Mexican side that looked like they meant business. The only thing going in Chile's favour was the fact that Mexico didn't need to win their last game, and so the ensuing damage limitation exercise predictably ended in stalemate - 0-0.
Brazil and Mexico did claim the top two places in the group after all, but with Brazil finishing second there were a few raised eyebrows. Not everyone was convinced about their strength in depth, but with Robinho in their side, all was surely not lost.
As for Chile, their four points would almost certainly be good enough to claim one of the two 'best third place' spots, but having failed to beat Brazil or Mexico, their chances of finding glory would presumably be slim in the knock-out stages.
Group C
An interesting and competitive group got underway on June 28th with a glut of goals. Salvador Cabañas scored twice and Bayern Munich's Roque Santa Cruz picked up a hat-trick as Paraguay trounced Colombia 5-0, while in the other game in Maracaibo, Argentina beat the United States 4-1.
Eddie Johnson's penalty opened the scoring for the USA in the ninth minute but Hernan Crespo soon equalised before adding a second on the hour mark. Pablo Aimar and Carlos Tévez added two more to seal the victory and reinforce Argentina's label as favourites to win the tournament.
Things were to go from bad to worse for the Gold Cup winners in their next game against Paraguay. Salvador Cabañas was on target again to score the last of three goals in injury time giving Paraguay a 3-1 win which all but handed his team a place in the quarter-finals and possibly send the Americans home.
The Americans clung to the light of hope which came from the second game on July 2nd where Argentina picked up a second win, 4-2, against Colombia. Though Edixon Perea had put the Colombians in front early on, Hernan Crespo equalised in the 20th minute to become Argentina's all-time leading goalscorer ahead of Diego Maradona. Juan Riquelme added two more before half time and though Jaime Castrillón pulled one back for Colombia, Real Zaragoza's Diego Milito put the game out of their reach with a goal in the first minute of injury time.
The penultimate game of Group C would give the United States or Colombia a chance to finish third in the group and possibly earn a place in the quarter finals. American coach Bob Bradley shuffled the pack and put Brad Guzan in goal, leaving only one player with World Cup experience in the starting eleven.
So it was that Colombia took advantage of their inexperienced opponents in the first half, taking the lead on 16 minutes through a Jaime Castrillón goal. The Colombians even had a penalty in the 37th minute when Guzan tripped Hugo Rodallega, but the USA goalkeeper saved to keep his side in the match.
The United States came out stronger in the second half but Colombia were closer to scoring with their chances. The Americans had one last opportunity to get something from the match when Colombia's goalkeeper Robinson Zapata was sent off for time-wasting having already received a yellow card, but his replacement Rodallega helped keep the score at 1-0 and the USA were out of the competition.
Sadly for Colombia, this win wasn't good enough to give them a place in the quarter finals as Uruguay (Group A) and Chile (Group B) had scored more points. This high-scoring group therefore ended with Argentina on top - the only team in the tournament to win all three of their opening games - and Paraguay in second.
Quarter Finals
The second phase began on July 7th in strangely familiar circumstances. Such was the way the competition had been planned that Venezuela played Uruguay for a second time, as did Chile and Brazil.
The hosts took to the field first with Uruguay in San Cristóbal knowing that a repeat of their Group A 0-0 draw would see both teams go to extra time and maybe penalties. In the end, nothing could have been less likely as Uruguayan coach Oscar Tabarez gambled on some attacking gameplay which reaped its reward.
Diego Forlán opened the scoring in the 38th minute forcing Venezuela to look for an equaliser which they got just before half time through a Juan Arango free kick. Pablo Garcia restored Uruguay's lead on 65 minutes, when he drilled home a shot from the edge of the box and this was followed up with two more goals late on from Cristian Rodríguez and, again, Diego Forlán.
So Uruguay were through and were left to begin the patient wait to see who would win the second quarter final between Chile and Brazil. The Chileans were reported to be suffering from indiscipline at their team hotel and this seemed to explain the self-destruction they underwent during their match against the Brazilians.
Defender Juan headed in from a corner in the 16th minute to instigate a barrage of attacks on the Chilean goal. Júlio Baptista added a second seven minutes later before Robinho added two more to take his personal tally for the tournament to six. Josué scored his first for Brazil on 68 minutes and after Chile pulled a consolation goal back through Humberto Suazo, Vágner Love finished the 6-1 route with five minutes remaining.
Brazil were through to the semi finals to face Uruguay in emphatic fashion, but even then the goals didn't stop flying in. The third quarter final saw Mexico dominate their opponents Paraguay thanks to some skilful football and two goals from Nery Castillo.
Paraguay were reeling after just five minutes when goalkeeper Aldo Bobadilla was sent off for bringing down Castillo following a poor back-pass. In between the converted penalty that followed and Castillo's second in the 39th minute, Gerardo Torrado smashed home what was to be Mexico's third in the 27th minute, leaving the second half a virtual non-event.
Paraguay had nothing to offer except the occasional attack which inevitably exposed their numerical disadvantage but they kept the score at 3-0 until the last eleven minutes when Fernando Arce, Cuauhtémoc Blanco and Omar Bravo took the score to 6-0.
With Hugo Sánchez's team through to the semis, all that remained was to see whether Argentina would carry on from where they left off against Peru in the last quarter final. Alfio Basile had opted to start the game with Diego Milito up front, but the move backfired as the Peruvian defence prevented him from finding the net.
After a goalless first half, the Argentinian coach played his trump card by replacing Milito with Carlos Tévez. It opened up the whole game for his side and the effects were felt almost instantly. Tevez linked up with Juan Riquelme to help him score Argentina's first before Tevez himself hit the crossbar with a header five minutes later.
Riquelme himself turned provider in the 61st minute, playing a delightful through-ball to Barcelona's Lionel Messi who made it 2-0. In the 74th minute, Tevez set up Messi to shoot again, and though his shot was saved, Javier Mascherano was on hand to put the ball in the back of the net to make it 3-0.
With five minutes of the game left, Tevez's superb performance was complete when he allowed Riquelme to calmly slot the ball past Peru 'keeper Leao Butron for his second and Argentina's fourth. Peru, by their own admission, had been well beaten by a superior side who made full use of the playing talent they had to hand as well as the tactical knowledge of their coach.
So with Argentina set to face Mexico in one semi final on Wednesday and Brazil up against their old rivals Uruguay in the other tomorrow, the 2007 Copa America looks set for a finish every bit as exciting and eventful as the twenty-two games we've seen so far.
Will Argentina complete their free-scoring campaign with victory in the Final or have Brazil timed their gradually improving performances to perfection? Perhaps Uruguay or Mexico will overcome their much-fancied opponents? Whatever you think, let us know by leaving us a comment - we're waiting to hear your thoughts!
Since June 26th, the ten nations of CONMEBOL along with guest participants Mexico and the USA have been battling it out in three groups of four to earn a place in the quarter finals. Here's how things panned out in Round 1, along with news from the recent quarter final matches:
Group A
Hosts Venezuela were the main attraction of Group A and the home fans weren't disappointed as all four teams pretty much cancelled each other out to their advantage.
Peru started the strongest with a surprising 3-0 win over Uruguay while Venezuela twice allowed Bolivia to draw level in a match that finished 2-2.
Four days later and it was all change - Peru lost 2-0 to a rampant Venezuela with Uruguay picking up their first win in a narrow 1-0 victory over Bolivia.
Come July 3rd, it was all to play for - Venezuela had four points, Uruguay and Peru had three and Bolivia had one. Any team could finish in the top two automatic qualifying places in the group, let alone third which could be good enough in the long term.
In the end, the final two games brought about two draws. Bolivia let two leads slip against Peru as Venezuela had done against them before and the hosts themselves tied 0-0 against Uruguay. To the delight of the majority of the fans, Venezuela finished top of the group with five points, Peru qualifying for the quarter finals in second on four, but would Uruguay's four points in third be good enough? One thing was for certain - we wouldn't be seeing more of a battling Bolivian team who ended the tournament bottom of Group A with two draws and a defeat from their three games.
Group B
This group was surely cut and dried right from the start - Brazil and Mexico to qualify, right? After the first round of games, no-one seemed quite so sure as Brazil faltered to a 2-0 defeat to the Mexicans which only highlighted the somewhat experimental look to Dunga's Copa America squad.
Chile, meanwhile, came back from behind twice to win 3-2 against Ecudaor, thanks largely to two Humberto Suazo goals. It was the Chileans that Brazil faced next with something of a face-saving exercise to be done, and so it was, thanks to the efforts of one man - Robinho. His hat-trick, which included a penalty in the 36th minute, flattened Chile and opened up the group in one fell swoop.
The Mexican steamroller had earlier had the same effect on Ecuador as Nery Castillo scored his second of the tournament in a 2-1 victory. Mexico were through to the quarter finals, but would Brazil or Chile claim the second spot?
As luck would have it, the chance for Brazil to complete their re-emergence in the competition would take place against an Ecuador side who almost certainly couldn't qualify. Yet again, however, Brazil would struggle and it was only because of another Robinho penalty in the 56th minute that they managed to seal the extra win they needed.
Chile's task was all the more difficult as their last match saw them go head to head with a Mexican side that looked like they meant business. The only thing going in Chile's favour was the fact that Mexico didn't need to win their last game, and so the ensuing damage limitation exercise predictably ended in stalemate - 0-0.
Brazil and Mexico did claim the top two places in the group after all, but with Brazil finishing second there were a few raised eyebrows. Not everyone was convinced about their strength in depth, but with Robinho in their side, all was surely not lost.
As for Chile, their four points would almost certainly be good enough to claim one of the two 'best third place' spots, but having failed to beat Brazil or Mexico, their chances of finding glory would presumably be slim in the knock-out stages.
Group C
An interesting and competitive group got underway on June 28th with a glut of goals. Salvador Cabañas scored twice and Bayern Munich's Roque Santa Cruz picked up a hat-trick as Paraguay trounced Colombia 5-0, while in the other game in Maracaibo, Argentina beat the United States 4-1.
Eddie Johnson's penalty opened the scoring for the USA in the ninth minute but Hernan Crespo soon equalised before adding a second on the hour mark. Pablo Aimar and Carlos Tévez added two more to seal the victory and reinforce Argentina's label as favourites to win the tournament.
Things were to go from bad to worse for the Gold Cup winners in their next game against Paraguay. Salvador Cabañas was on target again to score the last of three goals in injury time giving Paraguay a 3-1 win which all but handed his team a place in the quarter-finals and possibly send the Americans home.
The Americans clung to the light of hope which came from the second game on July 2nd where Argentina picked up a second win, 4-2, against Colombia. Though Edixon Perea had put the Colombians in front early on, Hernan Crespo equalised in the 20th minute to become Argentina's all-time leading goalscorer ahead of Diego Maradona. Juan Riquelme added two more before half time and though Jaime Castrillón pulled one back for Colombia, Real Zaragoza's Diego Milito put the game out of their reach with a goal in the first minute of injury time.
The penultimate game of Group C would give the United States or Colombia a chance to finish third in the group and possibly earn a place in the quarter finals. American coach Bob Bradley shuffled the pack and put Brad Guzan in goal, leaving only one player with World Cup experience in the starting eleven.
So it was that Colombia took advantage of their inexperienced opponents in the first half, taking the lead on 16 minutes through a Jaime Castrillón goal. The Colombians even had a penalty in the 37th minute when Guzan tripped Hugo Rodallega, but the USA goalkeeper saved to keep his side in the match.
The United States came out stronger in the second half but Colombia were closer to scoring with their chances. The Americans had one last opportunity to get something from the match when Colombia's goalkeeper Robinson Zapata was sent off for time-wasting having already received a yellow card, but his replacement Rodallega helped keep the score at 1-0 and the USA were out of the competition.
Sadly for Colombia, this win wasn't good enough to give them a place in the quarter finals as Uruguay (Group A) and Chile (Group B) had scored more points. This high-scoring group therefore ended with Argentina on top - the only team in the tournament to win all three of their opening games - and Paraguay in second.
Quarter Finals
The second phase began on July 7th in strangely familiar circumstances. Such was the way the competition had been planned that Venezuela played Uruguay for a second time, as did Chile and Brazil.
The hosts took to the field first with Uruguay in San Cristóbal knowing that a repeat of their Group A 0-0 draw would see both teams go to extra time and maybe penalties. In the end, nothing could have been less likely as Uruguayan coach Oscar Tabarez gambled on some attacking gameplay which reaped its reward.
Diego Forlán opened the scoring in the 38th minute forcing Venezuela to look for an equaliser which they got just before half time through a Juan Arango free kick. Pablo Garcia restored Uruguay's lead on 65 minutes, when he drilled home a shot from the edge of the box and this was followed up with two more goals late on from Cristian Rodríguez and, again, Diego Forlán.
So Uruguay were through and were left to begin the patient wait to see who would win the second quarter final between Chile and Brazil. The Chileans were reported to be suffering from indiscipline at their team hotel and this seemed to explain the self-destruction they underwent during their match against the Brazilians.
Defender Juan headed in from a corner in the 16th minute to instigate a barrage of attacks on the Chilean goal. Júlio Baptista added a second seven minutes later before Robinho added two more to take his personal tally for the tournament to six. Josué scored his first for Brazil on 68 minutes and after Chile pulled a consolation goal back through Humberto Suazo, Vágner Love finished the 6-1 route with five minutes remaining.
Brazil were through to the semi finals to face Uruguay in emphatic fashion, but even then the goals didn't stop flying in. The third quarter final saw Mexico dominate their opponents Paraguay thanks to some skilful football and two goals from Nery Castillo.
Paraguay were reeling after just five minutes when goalkeeper Aldo Bobadilla was sent off for bringing down Castillo following a poor back-pass. In between the converted penalty that followed and Castillo's second in the 39th minute, Gerardo Torrado smashed home what was to be Mexico's third in the 27th minute, leaving the second half a virtual non-event.
Paraguay had nothing to offer except the occasional attack which inevitably exposed their numerical disadvantage but they kept the score at 3-0 until the last eleven minutes when Fernando Arce, Cuauhtémoc Blanco and Omar Bravo took the score to 6-0.
With Hugo Sánchez's team through to the semis, all that remained was to see whether Argentina would carry on from where they left off against Peru in the last quarter final. Alfio Basile had opted to start the game with Diego Milito up front, but the move backfired as the Peruvian defence prevented him from finding the net.
After a goalless first half, the Argentinian coach played his trump card by replacing Milito with Carlos Tévez. It opened up the whole game for his side and the effects were felt almost instantly. Tevez linked up with Juan Riquelme to help him score Argentina's first before Tevez himself hit the crossbar with a header five minutes later.
Riquelme himself turned provider in the 61st minute, playing a delightful through-ball to Barcelona's Lionel Messi who made it 2-0. In the 74th minute, Tevez set up Messi to shoot again, and though his shot was saved, Javier Mascherano was on hand to put the ball in the back of the net to make it 3-0.
With five minutes of the game left, Tevez's superb performance was complete when he allowed Riquelme to calmly slot the ball past Peru 'keeper Leao Butron for his second and Argentina's fourth. Peru, by their own admission, had been well beaten by a superior side who made full use of the playing talent they had to hand as well as the tactical knowledge of their coach.
So with Argentina set to face Mexico in one semi final on Wednesday and Brazil up against their old rivals Uruguay in the other tomorrow, the 2007 Copa America looks set for a finish every bit as exciting and eventful as the twenty-two games we've seen so far.
Will Argentina complete their free-scoring campaign with victory in the Final or have Brazil timed their gradually improving performances to perfection? Perhaps Uruguay or Mexico will overcome their much-fancied opponents? Whatever you think, let us know by leaving us a comment - we're waiting to hear your thoughts!
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