Uruguay wins record 15th Copa America

Diego Forlan scores twice to lead Uruguay to record 15th Copa America title.

Uruguay created history today in Copa America football when they claimed the 2011 title for a record 15th time -- eclipsing this year's tournament host's Argentina 14 with a 3-0 win in the final today.

Uruguay faced Paraguay, a team that astonishingly had reached the final without winning a game in regulation time throughout the tournament.

And the difference in class showed through, Uruguay taking a 2-0 lead into the break following goals to Luis Suarez and Diego Forlan.

Paraguay pushed hard in the second half but Uruguay just had too much class.

                                                                 (IN ARABIC)

BUENOS AIRES, Argentina -- Diego Forlan scored twice and Uruguay won the Copa America, South America's top international tournament, for a record 15th time after beating Paraguay 3-0 Sunday.

Luis Suarez also scored for Uruguay, which followed up a semifinal appearance at the 2010 World Cup by winning South America's championship for the first time since 1995.

(Uruguay celebrates with the trophy after winning 3-0 in the Copa America final Sunday.)

At roughly 3.5 million people -- about the population of Connecticut -- Uruguay has the smallest population of teams in the tournament.                                              

Argentina and Brazil were upset in the quarterfinals of the Copa. Uruguay ousted Argentina on penalties and Paraguay eliminated Brazil, also in a shootout.

Argentina has won the title 14 times, Brazil eight. Brazil had won four of the past five titles.

Uruguay was the clear favorite going into the final, wrapping up a tournament filled with surprises.

Not only had Brazil and Argentina been sent home early, but Venezuela reached the third-place match on Saturday before losing 4-1 to Peru. Those two countries have been the weakest in the region in recent years, but they suddenly look formidable going into regional World Cup qualifying later this year.

Uruguay's squad featured 20 of the 23 players it took to the World Cup a year ago, showing teamwork and unselfish play with none of the vast star power of Argentina or Brazil.

Suarez gave Uruguay the lead in a match it dominated in the opening minutes. Receiving a pass in the area, the Liverpool forward beat defender Dario Veron to score from a deflected left-footed shot that went in off the far post behind goalkeeper Justo Villar.

Uruguay could have even have led in the second minute, when Villar stopped Diego Lugano's point-blank header.

Forlan, who was voted the best player at last year's World Cup, made it 2-0 by lashing a left-footed shot from 12 yards that left Villar flat-footed. He was set up after teammate Egidio Arevalo Rios had stolen the ball from a Paraguay player near midfield.

The Atletico Madrid striker had not scored in his 12 previous matches for the national team.

Sebastian Eguren almost made it 3-0 in the 74th, foiled when Villar stuck out his left arm with the ball headed for the net.

Forlan scored the final goal in the 90th, taking a pass from Suarez and scoring into the far corner.

Paraguay, which seldom threatened, played without injured forward Roque Santa Cruz and winger Aureliano Torres. Paraguay coach Gerardo Martino and top assistant Jorge Pautasso were suspended from the match after being sent off for repeatedly arguing with the referee in Wednesday's win over Venezuela.

Martino, from Argentina, is seen as a leading contender to take over Argentina's national team. The Argentine federation was to meet Monday and decide on the future of coach Sergio Batista, who is reported to be on the way out.

Paraguay won Copa America titles in 1979 and 1953 and reached the second round at the 2010 World Cup.

More information here.

Copa América kicks off in La Plata

Argentina will be hosting the 43rd edition of the Copa América. This is the continental football tournament in South America, which along with the European Championships and the World Cup, is considered one of the major international football tournaments in the world.
So what makes Copa America the biggest sporting event in this part of the world? Well for starters, the whopping television audience of 530 million people in Latin America tuning in for the last tournament in 2007!
The first international competition to be held between South American teams took place in 1910. However, there are also rumours that the competition was born in 1916 and named the South American Championship Selections. This tournament was contested by Argentina, Brazil, Chile and Uruguay who claimed the championship.


After sixty years of intermittent changes, additions and absences, the 1975 tournament finally took on the title of Copa América. Representatives in the tournament came from Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, Paraguay, Peru (champions) and Venezuela. During the next twenty years, the tournament took on further modifications, and it was not until the 1993 edition played in Ecuador, that the America’s Cup took its current format in which ten teams from CONMEBOL participate in the tournament and two teams from other continents are invited. The 12 teams are divided into three groups of four. The top two in each group and two best third placed teams progress to the second round. These eight teams then compete in a play-off system to determine the winner.


Copa América 2011
The two sides invited for this edition will be Mexico and Costa Rica. The Mexican team will attend the tournament with their Olympic Under-23 side plus five reinforcements, while Costa Rica will replace the Japanese. Unfortunately the Japanese earthquake and tsunami in March cast doubt on their ability to attend and sure enough, they withdrew their team on 16 May citing difficulties with European clubs in releasing Japanese players.


The 25 games will be held in the cities of La Plata, Córdoba, Santa Fe, San Juan, Mendoza, San Salvador de Jujuy and Salta, while the final will be played on 24 July at River Plate’s stadium in Buenos Aires. The champions of the tournament will earn the optional right to compete in the 2013 FIFA Confederations Cup hosted by Brazil.


The opening ceremony will be held on 1 July at the Estadio Unico in La Plata, followed by the first match in which Argentina will face Bolivia for the Group A.

Poland beats Argentina by 2-1.

Poland beats Argentina 2-1 in friendly tie

WARSAW POLAND defeated a weakened Argentina team 2-1 in an international friendly on Sunday with Adrian Mierzejewski scoring in the first half and Pawel Brozek adding another in the second. 

Defender Pablo Zabaleta was the only Argentina player in the starting lineup who has also made the 26-man preliminary roster for next month’s Copa America‚ the South American championship. 

All of the team’s biggest stars were missing, including Barcelona’s Lionel Messi, Carlos Tevez of Manchester City and Javier Zanetti of Inter Milan. 

Mierzejewski scored in the 26th, but Argentina’s Marco Ruben equalized in the 47th to set the stage for Brozek’s winner in the 67th. 

Nigeria defeated a similar Argentina team 4-1 on Wednesday in Abuja,asa match that is being investigated by FIFA for alleged matchfixing. 

No players are implicated. 

Julio Grondona, the president of the Argentine Football Association, criticized coach Sergio Batista for the Nigeria match, saying the “humiliating loss” and embarassed the nation and the team shirt. 

This match was better for Argentina, which opens the Copa America on July 1 against Bolivia. 

Batista said he was also looking further ahead.“We had a chance to draw, we played better than against Nigeria, Batisa said. 

“I see improvement. 

... Some of the players deserve to play in the next matches. 

Everything is about the project for 2014 (World Cup).” Poland broke through in the 26th. 

Argentina lost possession in midfield and Mierzejewski took a loose ball, broke into the area, and scored with a left-footed shot from 12 meters (yards) that beat goalkeeper Adrian Gabbarini. 

Poland had a half-dozen scoring chances in the first half, although Argentina played slightly better in this match than against Nigeria. 

Argentina equalized when Ruben ran onto a loose ball in the area and scored from 15 meters. 

The goal gave Argentina momentum, and it followed up with more possession while Poland tried to score on the counterattack. 

Mierzejewski almost scored his second, breaking down the left side in the 63rd and firing a low, hard shot that Gabbarini sprawled to stop. 

Poland got the winner in the 67th when Brozek took a perfectly timed pass, slipped through the defense and netted with a short chip from 10 meters. 

The stadium was twothirds full for the match. 

Polish news website TVN24 called the Argentina team “a shadow of the great Argentina” and said all that remained “was the name.”