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*After Gold Cup duty and vacation, Mexico’s Javier “Chicharito” Hernandez has rejoined Manchester United for tonight’s MLS All-Star Game at Red Bull Arena and Saturday’s friendly with FC Barcelona at FedEx field. Whether he plays so soon after returning remains to be seen. My profile of Chicharito , as well as all-star data, appeared in today’s editions.

*Before flying to the States, Barcelona is competing in the preseason Audi Cup in Munich. On Tuesday, Barca edged Internacional on penalty kicks following a 2-2 draw, setting up a final today with Bayern Munich, which defeated AC Milan on penalties after a 1-1 tie.

*Want to win tickets to Saturday’s match at FedEx? The Post’s Going Out Gurus have a pair to give away.

*MLS is off to a slow start in the 2011-12 CONCACAF Champions League following the Seattle Sounders’ 1-0 loss at San Francisco (Panama). Because it’s a two-game series, the Sounders are essentially down a goal at halftime. The second leg is next Wednesday at CenturyLink Field. Today, Canadian champion Toronto FC hosts Real Esteli (Nicaragua) and on Thursday FC Dallas visits Alianza (El Salvador).

*The United States dropped six places to No. 30 in the FIFA men’s rankings — a largely meaningless fall. The order is particularly important to European sides, who are awaiting the 2014 World Cup preliminary draw Saturday in Rio de Janeiro. With its Copa America title, Uruguay jumped 13 slots to No. 5 behind Spain, Netherlands, Germany and Brazil.

*I’ll be a guest on WAMU’s Kojo Nnamdi Show (NPR) around 1:30 p.m. today.

For more…..

*Americans abroad

MF Maurice Edu 90 minutes in Rangers’ 1-0 home loss to Malmo in UEFA Champions League qualifying (2nd leg next Wednesday)

*Soccer on TV (all times are Eastern):

Friendly, Hertha Berlin-Real Madrid 12:30 p.m. ESPN3.com

Audi Cup, Internacional-AC Milan noon Fox Soccer Channel

Audi Cup, Bayern Munich-Barcelona 2:30 p.m. FSC (tape at 11 p.m. on FSC)

French Super Cup, Marseille-Lille 2:45 p.m. Fox Soccer Plus, www.foxsoccer.tv

CONCACAF Champions League, Toronto-Real Esteli 8 p.m. FSC

MLS All-Stars vs. Manchester United 8:30 p.m. ESPN2, Telefutura, TSN, ESPN3.com

Article source: http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/soccer-insider/post/wednesday-kickaround-chicharito-mls-all-star-game-manchester-united-barcelona-concacaf-mls-fifa-rankings-americans-abroad-tv-listings/2011/07/27/gIQApoxhcI_blog.html

by Kirsten Schlewitz

Edinson Cavani, who scored 26 goals in Serie A for Napoli last season, and was a driving force behind their entry into the Champions League, was injured in Uruguay’s Copa America match against Chile on July 9th, and has not played since. Although it first appeared as though he’d simply taken a knock, Cavani in fact twisted his knee, and photos from the treatment room show his face distorted in pain — terrifying for any fan of the forward.

Continue reading »

Article source: http://sbnation.com/soccer/2011/7/18/2281668/copa-america-2011-semifinals-uruguay-vs-peru-news-updates-schedule-preview

MADRID |
Wed Jul 27, 2011 10:22pm BST

MADRID (Reuters) – Argentina forward Sergio Aguero has completed his move to big-spending Manchester City from Atletico Madrid, he said on his Twitter feed Wednesday.

“Now I am a City player,” Aguero, who is known as “Kun” after a Japanese cartoon character, said on the feed, which can be reached via a link on his official website (www.sergioaguero.com).

“Happy to be at this club and in this city,” added the 23-year-old. “Thank you to everyone for the welcome and the reception.”

A separate statement posted on his website later on Wednesday said he had passed a medical and signed his contract.

One of the most sought-after forwards in world soccer, Aguero announced at the end of May he wanted to leave Atletico, who unlike City missed out on a place on next season’s Champions League, Europe’s elite club competition.

Spanish media reported the English Premier League side had agreed to pay 45 million euros (40 million pounds) to secure his services and he is expected to replace unsettled compatriot Carlos Tevez.

Juventus had also been chasing Aguero, who upstaged team mate Lionel Messi of Barcelona at the Copa America by scoring three times in four games.

He was one of the few bright spots for the hosts, who bowed out at the quarter-final stage after a penalty shootout defeat to eventual champions Uruguay.

Married to one of Diego Maradona’s daughters, Aguero has spent five seasons at Atletico, where he won the Europa League in 2009-10.

He was raised at Independiente where he made his professional debut as a 15-year-old.

(Reporting by Iain Rogers and Brian Homewood; Editing by Pritha Sarkar)

Article source: http://uk.reuters.com/article/2011/07/27/uk-soccer-england-aguero-idUKTRE76Q6DT20110727

Juventus Takes Down Club America 1-0, Eyes CD Guadalajara

Thursday night’s match between Juventus and Club America was put on hold during the 32nd minute for 36 minutes. A lingering lightening storm overhead made it necessary to suspend play until all was clear.

When action resumed, it didn’t take long for Juventus to break the scoreless draw. Winger Cristian Pasquato scored the go ahead goal in the 42nd minute. It would prove to be the only goal scored by either side in the match.

Juventus knew they had to win this match. After a loss to Sporting Clube de Portugal on July 23rd, it was imperative that they got back on track by coming away with a victory in their match against Club America.

That’s why it came as no surprise that the starting lineup remained on the pitch until the 73rd minute. The match was incredibly close. Making a substitution in order to preserve the legs of a player for their upcoming match against CD Guadalajara could have opened the door for Club America to knock in the equalizer.

Club America has another match in front of them as well. They get a chance to square off against Barcelona in Cowboys Stadium on August 6th. Cowboys stadium is arguably the most impressive sports venue in the entire country.

The game won’t be featuring the most feared attacker in the world, Lionel Messi, who is coming off of the Copa America 2011.

Even so, Barcelona is going to be a tough challenge for Club America. It presents a great challenge for the team, one that they would undoubtedly want momentum heading into. The loss against Juventus doesn’t certainly doesn’t add to the confidence as they head into their final match of the World Football Challenge.

Conversely, Juventus has gained momentum as they take on CD Guadalajara. It’s going to be interesting to see how the team holds up towards the end of the match and how readily substitutes are utilized, but Juventus has to like their chances heading into the match.

Stay tuned to Bleacher Report’s World Football Page for all up-to-date news and analysis.

–Kyle Vassalo

Most recent updates:

• Juventus vs. CD Guadalajara: Juventus Looks to Keep Momentum Going
• World Football Challenge: Lionel Messi Not Joining Barcelona at WFC
• Juventus FC vs. Club America: Juventus in New York for World Football Challenge
• View all updates

Article source: http://bleacherreport.com/articles/766785-world-football-challenge-2011-latest-schedule-news-and-results/entry/110844-world-football-challenge-juventus-takes-down-club-america-after-storm-delay

Uruguay’s Diego Forlan, right, scores past Paraguay goalkeeper Justo Villar during the Copa America final on Sunday. (Eduardo Di Baia/Associated Press)

Diego Forlan is set to play for his club Atletico Madrid only four days after scoring two goals in Uruguay’s Copa America final win in Argentina.

Forlan flew into Madrid on Wednesday and will delay his holidays to be available for Atletico’s two-legged Europa League qualifier against Stromsgodset. Atletico hosts the Norwegian team on Thursday with the return leg next week.

The 32-year-old Forlan acknowledges he is “a bit tired” after starring in Uruguay’s 3-0 win over Paraguay on Sunday, but could be a substitute on Thursday. If Atletico progresses, Forlan will take a break before the next round later in August.

Forlan was part of the Atletico team that won the Europa League in 2010.

© The Associated Press, 2011

Article source: http://www.cbc.ca/sports/soccer/story/2011/07/27/sp-forlan.html

AP2011

Uruguay’s goalkeeper Fernando Muslera attends a training session in Buenos Aires, Argentina, Thursday, July 21, 2011. Uruguay will face Paraguay on July 24 for the final Copa America soccer match. (AP Photo/Natacha Pisarenko)

You know Copa América means something to these countries big time or you wouldn’t have Venezuela president Hugo Chávez complaining about the officiating.

While undergoing cancer treatment in Havana, Cuba, an incensed Chávez tweeted that the Venezuelans were robbed of a goal in its elimination to Paraguay on Wednesday night.

“THEY ROBBED US OF THE VICTORY GOAL!” Chávez tweeted. “why the devil was that referee going to nullify such a spectacular goal?”

Oswaldo Vizcarrondo’s goal was called back because he was offside. The game ended in a scoreless tie after 120 minutes as Paraguay prevailed in the shootout, ending Venezuela’s underdog dreams of pulling off another major stunner at South America’s most important competition outside of World Cup qualifying and the big dance itself.

All complaining and tweeting in the world won’t change the foes in the final confrontation on Sunday.

Just call what will transpire at Estadio Monumental in Buenos Aires, Argentina, the battle of the Guays – as in Uruguay vs. Paraguay.

Who could have predicted such a final in what has morphed into one of the wildest and craziest Copas to date? Everyone (perhaps except those soccer fanatics in Paraguay and Uruguay) probably thought at the beginning of this month that old standbys Argentina and Brazil would be bumping heads – literally and figuratively for the championship – again.

Not so fast, the rest of the field said.

We all know what happened to them – quarterfinal elimination in a pair of underachieving performances that have both coaches under fire.

But we’ll deal with that another day.

Sunday will be either Uruguay’s or Paraguay’s day.

Uruguay hasn’t paraded around with the Copa trophy since 1995, Paraguay not since 1979.

Looking at the match-up, logic states that Uruguay should be the favorite. But in this tournament, logic has been all but thrown out the window with the two unlikely finalists.

Start with Exhibit A: the Paraguayans, who have become the masters of survival the past 13 months.

It is mind-boggling, but they have yet to win during the run of play in Copa, just doing enough to get by and reaching the knockout round by the skin of their collective teeth.

They finished third in their group behind Brazil and Venezuela, drawing all three of their Group B matches – 0-0 with Ecuador, 2-2 with Brazil and 3-3 with Venezuela (if this was the World Cup, Paraguay would have been eliminated after the opening round).

The Guaraní continued their tying experience in the knockout rounds, besting Brazil via penalty kicks after a scoreless draw in the quarterfinals and eliminating Venezuela via spot kicks after yet another 0-0 match. 

Officially, they don’t go down as wins. In the FIFA world, shootouts are counted as a tie for both teams.

Incredible as it may sound, Paraguay has gone deep in two big time international competitions by winning only once in 10 games. In last summer’s World Cup in South Africa, the Paraguayans won but once in five matches – a 2-0 decision over Slovakia in the opening round. 

They were eliminated by eventual champion Spain in the quarterfinals, 1-0, while recording a 1-1-3 record.

They don’t play with much flair and will play a rather bland style, just enough to get by in this tournament, not exactly the best advertisement for the sport.

Paraguay will have a few more obstacles to overcome on Sunday. The Guaraní won’t have coach Gerardo Martino on the bench, as he was slapped with a two-game suspension for the post-match brawl with Venezuela. 

Both teams were fined $10,000 for the scuffle. The team also won’t have midfielder Jonathan Santana, who was red carded during the match. Striker Roque Santa Cruz and left fullback are injured were considered doubtful on Friday.

Uruguay, on the other hand, has taken a slightly more conventional route to the final, actually winning a first-round game with going undefeated (1-0-2), tying Perú, 1-1, and Chile, 1-1, before recording a1-0 win over essentially an Under-23 Mexico side.

The Uruguayans woke up in the quarterfinals, overcoming host Argentina in penalties, 5-4, after a 1-1 draw in 120 minutes of regulation. They then showed Perú the door in the semifinals behind a 2-0 triumph.

It may be difficult to believe, but La Celeste once ruled the roost in international soccer, capturing the 1924 and 1928 Olympic gold medals, the closest thing the sport had to a world championship at the time. 

It was due to the success of the tournament that the very first World Cup was hosted in Uruguay in 1930. Not surprisingly, the hosts prevailed over its arch-est of rivals, Argentina, in the 13-team tournament.

The Uruguayans also have another World Cup in their trophy case – the 1950, in which they stunned host Brazil at Maracana Stadium, against a team that also boasted the father of the great Pelé.

They were forced to take a back seat to Brazil and Argentina until last summer when the team became the only South American side to reach the final four. 

Not too shabby.

And just about every African soccer fan remembered how the Uruguayans accomplished that – when Luis Suárez denied Asamoah Gyan a goal by blocking his shot with his hand. 

Suárez was given a red card, Gyan a penalty kick – that he missed. The Uruguayans overcame Ghana in a shootout and eventually lost to the Netherlands in the semis and finished fourth. 

Had Ghana won, it would have become the first African team to reach a World Cup semifinal.

Suárez was reviled in Africa and many parts of the world, certainly not in Uruguay, where he was hailed as a hero and someone who could think on his feet quickly.

Earlier this week Suárez became the toast of Uruguay again, making sure La Celeste would not be toast. He grabbed the spotlight from his renowned teammate, Diego Forlán, not by denying any one goals, but by denying Perú a chance to reach the semifinals, striking for a brace in a 2-0 victory.

On paper, Forlán and Suárez and company are the more talented side and are considered the favorites against Paraguay. But as we know from watching the beautiful game, the best team not always wins. Sometimes the ugly game prevails.

Let us pray to the soccer gods that doesn’t happen or Uruguay president José Mujica could be tweeting his protests come Sunday night.

Michael Lewis, who has covered international soccer for three decades, is a frequent contributor to Fox News Latino. He can be reached at SoccerWriter516@aol.com.

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Article source: http://latino.foxnews.com/latino/sports/2011/07/22/copa-america-uruguay-vs-paraguay/

By Thales Machado, Sambafoot’s reporter in Buenos Aires

 

The tournament lasted 24 days, and when there wasn’t a game, there was plenty of reports, news and opinions on Sambafoot.com during July. With reporter Thales Machado in Argentina following the Brazil squad and his blog from the sidelines, Sambafoot was able to give a real feel of the tournament to those at home.

 

As well as this, all four language interfaces covered all four of Brazil’s games, with minute-by-minute updates. Sambafoot even managed to conduct a Twitcam chat with journalist Tim Vickery, who gave his thoughts on the tournament and Brazil’s performances.

 

Sambafoot is proud of its coverage of the 2011 Copa America, and we would like to thank all of you for reading. Below are images that have all been used across the four language interfaces. Thank you for sharing the tournament with us! Roll on the 2015 Copa America in Brazil!

 

Group Stage

 

 

There was a surprise in the opening game, as hosts and favourites Argentina had to come from behind to earn a point against Bolivia.

 

 

The day of the dog: Brazil’s first game against Venezuela was dull, with this canine pitch invader providing one of very few highlights.

 

 

Uruguay completed the poor start by the three main favourites, as they drew against Peru.

 

 

Chile were the best performers of the first set of fixtures, and won 2-1 against Mexico. More than 40,000 Chile fans crossed the border to see their team.

 

 

Crisis: Two games and just two points for Argentina, while Colombia top the group.

 

 

Against Paraguay, Fred was Brazil’s saviour, scoring a last minute goal to earn a 2-2 draw.

 

 

Venezuela started very well, and picked up only their third ever win in the competition against Ecuador, putting themselves top of Group C in the process.

 

 

Against Costa Rica, Messi returned to form for Argentina, who won 3-0 and qualified for the quarter-finals.

 

 

The Argentina fans were delighted their hero had started to perform.

 

 

Falcao scored twice against Bolivia to ensure Colombia won Group A.

 

 

Brazil finally started to play football against Ecuador. Neymar (pictured) and Pato scored two goals each as they won 4-2 and qualified for the next round.

 

 

Uruguay beat Mexico in La Plata to set up a quarter-final tie against the hosts.

 

Quarter-finals

 

 

The quarter-finals saw many shocks, including Peru’s win over Colombia.

 

 

First to fall was Argentina, who lost to Uruguay on penalties.

 

 

Then it was Brazil. Elano (left) and Andre Santos (right) both failed during the penalty shoot-out defeat to Paraguay.

 

 

A nice surprise: Venezuela beat Chile to qualify for the semi-finals for the first time.

 

 

Muslera (top) of Uruguay and Villar of Paraguay: two men who flattened giants.

 

Semi-finals

 

 

Luis Suarez scored twice as Uruguay beat Peru to qualify for the final for the first time since 1995.

 

 

Again, it was Villar who saved Paraguay. After five draws, three of them goalless, Paraguay defeated Venezuela on penalties and reached the final.

 

Third Place Play-Off

 

 

Guerrero of Peru scored a hat-trick as Peru beat Venezuela 4-1, ensuring he finished the tournament as top goalscorer with five.

 

The Final

 

 

Uruguay saved their best until last, hammering Paraguay 3-0 with a goal from Suarez (left) and two for Forlan.

 

 

The Champions of the 2011 Copa America are Uruguay!

 

Translated into English by Sean Mullan.

Article source: http://www.sambafoot.com/en/news/22209_the_images_of_the_2011_copa_america.html

Argentina soccer coachSergio Batista resigned after the host nation failed to make the final
of the Copa America, Argentine Football Association spokesman
Ernesto Cherquis Bialo said.

Batista tendered his resignation, which was accepted by the
association’s board, Bialo said at a televised news conference
in Buenos Aires.

“I dont know the reasons,” Cherquis Bialo said. “What I
know is that yesterday we saw people play in the Monumental and
Argentina wasn’t there.”

Uruguay beat Paraguay 3-0 in yesterday’s Copa America final
at Buenos Aires’s Estadio Monumental to win its record 15th Copa
America and move one title ahead of Argentina.

To contact the reporter on this story:
Rodrigo Orihuela in Buenos Aires at
rorihuela@bloomberg.net

To contact the editor responsible for this story:
Dan Baynes at
dbaynes@bloomberg.net

Article source: http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-07-26/argentina-soccer-coach-sergio-batista-quits-after-team-s-copa-america-flop.html

 

AP2011

Uruguay’s Diego Perez kisses the trophy as the team celebrates in the Centenario Stadium in Montevideo, Uruguay Monday July 25, 2011. Uruguay won the Copa America for a record 15th time after beating Paraguay 3-0 in Argentina Sunday. (AP Photo/Andres Cuenca) (AP Photo/Matilde Campodonico)

 

Contrary to popular belief, there are other South American soccer teams besides Brazil and Argentina that can play the beautiful game.

Chile and Paraguay have some pretty good players and teams. Venezuela, too, showed it is an up-and-coming side, while Perú surprised a lot of soccer observers by finishing fourth at Copa América.

And there’s Uruguay, which made yet another mark for itself with a marvelous and emphatic 3-0 triumph over Paraguay in the Copa América final on Sunday.

There is no doubt La Celeste is the best of South America. The Uruguayans play with some flair, spark and style behind the sublime Diego Forlán and Luis Suárez, and they like to show they still have some bite to let the opposition know there is a defending team on the field.

Brazil and Argentina can talk as much as they want about South American supremacy. But as we all know, talk can be very cheap, especially in these inflated times.

It is action, and what transpires on the soccer pitch, that speaks much louder than words.The Uruguayans have allowed their talented feet, hard heads, and the soft hands of goalkeeper Fernando Muslera, do the talking the past two years.

You can’t argue with success, and they have accomplished just about everything you could ask of a national team. They finished a surprising fourth at last year’s World Cup and added a Copa América trophy to its trophy case for the first time since 1995.

It was Uruguay’s 15th Copa crown, one more than Argentina.

And there’s an added prize – an opportunity to play at the 2013 FIFA Confederations Cup against the top national teams, including CONCACAF champion Mexico, host Brazil, and the European champion that will be decided next summer, plus the confederation champs from Asia, Africa and Oceania.

These past several years have been a renaissance for Uruguayan soccer.

While the eyes of the soccer world have been on Brazil, and the question of whether the national side could be rebuilt into a force to withstand the intense pressures of playing a World Cup at home — pressures that a talented Argentine side that has everything, including the great Lionel Messi, was unable to shrug-off while hosting the Copa America — it was easy to look past this team.

Not anymore.

Forlán, who ended the match scoreless in his previous 12 international matches, proved he was a money player with a fabulous, two-goal performance in the final.

Suárez, who forever will be linked to the handball controversial against Ghana in the World Cup quarterfinals, has proven to be a pretty damn good player himself with a goal and an assist Sunday. He finished with four goals and took home the Golden Ball as the best player of Copa America.

For years, the Uruguayans had forged a deserved reputation as being the hard men of South American soccer for their rough and tumble style. While those tactics don’t define today’s team, they made sure Paraguay received a message or two when they were nursing a 1-0 lead midway through the first half as Diego Pérez, Martín Caceres and Maxi Pereira were booked for yellow cards within a six-minute span for some hard fouls on their opposition.

But for Uruguay, it was skill and guile that ruled the day, not physical play, as Forlán lived up to his reputation as the Golden Ball winner as the 2010 World Cup’s best player.

In many ways, the start of the match was reminiscent of last Sunday’s Women’s World Cup final, when the United States threw just about everything but the kitchen sink at Japan. That ploy did not work, as Americans either could not find the target or the Japanese were up to the challenge.

The opening 10 minutes of the Uruguay-Paraguay confrontation was played in the latter’s end as La Celeste sent shots, crosses and passes from flank to flank but to no avail.

Finally, Uruguay broke Paraguay’s resistance as Suárez scored in the 12th minute as his shot bounded off the left post and into the net.

It was the best thing to happen to the game with the favorites scoring so early. It forced Paraguay to come out of its defensive shell and actually go on attack, opening up the game.

Not wanting to sit on a one-goal lead, the Uruguayans themselves went on the offensive. It paid off for them as Forlán struck in the 42nd minute after Egidio Arevalo Rios stole the ball from a Paraguayan player at midfield and put a giant exclamation point on the victory with a 90th-minute score.

The match could have turned into a dreary encounter had Paraguay managed to hold off its rivals or worse, scored first. Then the Paraguayans would have bunkered in, paying the entire team behind the ball and inviting their foes to penetrate their backline.

Thank the soccer gods it did not happen as the best team was allowed to play, and most importantly, win.

In soccer, sometimes the best team doesn’t always win, given the low-scoring nature of the game and the unusual bounces a ball might take or crazy happenings that might occur during a match. That goes double and perhaps even triple when a championship game is factored into the occasion.

But fortunately, no one has to lament that the wrong team won. Uruguay was deserving champion.

And talk about rubbing some salt into some really big open wounds.

Not only did the Uruguayans win on Argentine soil, which had to be bad enough, they did it in the same ground – Estadio Monumental – where La Albiceleste celebrated winning their first World Cup in 1978.

These certainly are not fun times for the sport in Argentina, especially in Buenos Aires. Estadio Monumental is the home of River Plate, that legendary team that was relegated to the Second Division several weeks ago. Fans rioted over the relegation.

There were fears that the stadium would not be ready for the final, but it was.

National coach Sergio Batista is on the hot seat and could be fired – deservedly, I might add – for misguiding the team into a quarterfinal elimination at home, no matter what he says and how he pleads his flimsy case to remain as the coach.

Now Uruguay wins in that same stadium.

Can the Argentine soccer psyche take any more demoralizing news?

If that doesn’t get Argentina off its rear and try to live up to its supposed potential, then nothing will.

As for the Uruguayans, they will be allowed to celebrate for a while, having earned bragging rights until World Cup qualifying kicks off next year.

Argentina and Brazil can say whatever they want, but it will fall on deaf ears because Uruguay proved itself on the field and that’s all that counts in soccer.

Michael Lewis, who has covered international soccer for three decades, is a frequent contributor to Fox News Latino. He can be reached at SoccerWriter516@aol.com.

Follow us on twitter.com/foxnewslatino
Like us at facebook.com/foxnewslatino

Article source: http://latino.foxnews.com/latino/sports/2011/07/25/copa-america-culmination-uruguayan-renaissance/

Add to it the flops of Brazil and a Lionel Messi-led Argentina, a repeat of their disappointing exits in the 2010 World Cup when they both also were eliminated in the quarterfinals.

It leaves Uruguay as the favorite, once again showing that teamwork trumps star power in the small country of only three and a half million, which reached the semifinals at the World Cup in South Africa a year ago before losing to the Netherlands.

Uruguay enters the final with 20 of the 23 players it took to the World Cup and Coach Óscar Tabárez, who is affectionately known as Profesor or Maestro.

“This group knows each other by heart,” midfielder Egidio Arévalo said. “We try to play when we can, and when we can’t, the important thing is that we keep our tactical shape and order.”

Uruguay’s attack has been steady, but not great. Liverpool’s Luis Suárez scored both goals in the 2-0 semifinal victory against Peru, regularly fed passes by teammate Diego Forlán, the savvy Atlético Madrid striker.

The rugged defense is another matter. Led by Lazio goalkeeper Fernando Muslera, and defenders Diego Lugano and Sebastián Coates, Uruguay has yielded only three goals in five matches.

Muslera has been as good as any player in the tournament, and he was the difference with a diving save on Carlos Tévez in the penalty shootout against Argentina in the quarterfinals, which provided the narrow 5-4 margin after a 1-1 draw in extra time.

Unlike Paraguay, Uruguay is almost injury-free as it seeks a record 15th Copa title. Argentina has 14 and Brazil, which won the last two finals and four of the last five, has eight.

Uruguay won its last Copa title in 1995 and lost in ’99 to Brazil in the final. “We’re really ready, fired up to win the match that will crown us champions,” midfielder Álvaro González said.

Paraguay finds itself having to defend its right to even be in the final. It was outplayed by Venezuela in the semifinal, but won by 5-3 on penalties after a 0-0 draw after 120 minutes. Again, the goalkeeper, in this case Justo Villar, was the difference.

Even Venezuela’s president, Hugo Chávez, jumped into the fray after the match, saying in a string of Twitter messages that his team had been “robbed” of a goal. In fact, a disputed goal by Oswaldo Vizcarrondo was disallowed correctly; TV replays showed it was offside.

“Some comments are saying that Paraguay reached the final without having won,” said Juan Ángel Napout, president of the Paraguayan federation. “I say we have reached the final without losing.”

The match will be played at Monumental Stadium, the home of River Plate. A month ago, the stadium concession areas, toilets and thousands of seats were vandalized by hooligans after a match that resulted in River Plate’s relegation to Argentina’s second division for the first time in club history.

After some initial concerns, the stadium appears to be ready.

Paraguay has several injuries to cope with as it tries for its third Copa title after victories in 1979 and 1953.

Forward Roque Santa Cruz and wing Aureliano Torres will miss the final with injuries. Forward Nelson Haedo Valdez and midfielder Edgar Barreto are likely to play, but are nursing nagging injuries.

Meanwhile, Coach Gerardo Martino and his top assistant, Jorge Pautasso, have been suspended after being ejected for repeatedly arguing with the referee Wednesday. The No. 2 assistant Adrian Coria will be on the bench Sunday.

“Paraguay has played against difficult teams and has yet to lose,” said González, the Uruguay midfielder, pointing out that Paraguay drew twice with Brazil — once in the group stage and again in the quarterfinals.

“It played Brazil twice and didn’t lose,” he said. “Paraguay has its strengths, which we hope will not hurt us.”

Article source: http://www.nytimes.com/2011/07/24/sports/soccer/copa-america-a-surprising-and-intriguing-final.html