Two goals from Liverpool striker Luis Suarez within 5 minutes in the second half was enough to see Uruguay beat Peru 2-0 on Tuesday and move into the Copa America final.
Uruguay, which reached the semifinals of last year’s World Cup, will be looking for a record-15th Copa America title in Sunday’s final against either Paraguay or Venezuela, which meet in the other semifinal Wednesday in Mendoza. The final will be played Sunday in Buenos Aires.
Friday’s second quarter final fixture between Uruguay and Ghana at Johannesburg’s Soccer City Stadium will be the first ever meeting between these two sides at senior level. Surprisingly though, the Black Satellites ( Ghana’s u-20 side) drew 2-2 with Uruguay in the group stages of last years U-20 tournament which they went on to win.
Six of the players who won that tournament are now in the senior squad with Andre Ayew being the most notable of them all. The 21 year old will however miss Friday’s match after he picked up a second yellow card in their 2-1 victory over the USA.
Operation Reach for the Sky
The General:
Oscar Washington Tabarez is one of the many coaches this summer in South Africa with previous experience in the World Cup final. For Tabarez his experience is more dated then most stretching all the way back to 1990 when the manager motivated his homeland’s side to what was considered a disappointing second round finish. Now twenty years later, Tabarez looks to advance his Uruguay side even further in the event.
The Plan of Attack:
The Glass is Half Full
Uruguay will win the World Cup because they have one of the tournament’s most explosive offenses and one of the Cup’s richest histories. The club was not only the first team to ever win the Cup, but they were also the second team to ever win two titles (behind Italy of course). Not too shabby for a nation of less then 3 million total people. And this year they boast one of the most impressive South American offenses including striker Diego Forlan and secondary striker Luis Suarez. If they can create goals like they did in the WCQ then they should move on to the second round. And who knows. Maybe they can become one of the only nations to ever win the event three times.
The Keeper
Viera and Castillo will battle it out for the honor of starting goalie. Either way Uruguay decides to go means that they lack a really solid keeper in the net and this is one of their most suspect units right now. Usually a solid defensive club, they will have to prove their worth this Cup because the club’s D didn’t play up to their potential in the WCQ.
Grade: C +
The Defense
THE PAST
Most people do not know this little fact, but Uruguay was the first ever champions of the World Cup and the nation was also the host of the first ever World Cup as well. The team did win the Cup under much different rules then the current ones (only 13 teams competed), but they also won the title once again in 1950 in Brazil. After that second victory the club did make it to the semi-finals twice, but they haven’t advanced that far in the tournament since 1970. In their last five attempts to make the Cup, Uruguay has only made the event twice and haven’t advanced past the second round since that 1970 Cup run.
The Team: Uruguay has a rich soccer history that features two World Cup titles. However, they have not won it all since 1950, and their recent results have been rather poor. But, one must remember that Uruguay is actually quite a small country, and therefore their success on the pitch must be respected. In fact, Uruguay is by far the smallest country to ever win the World Cup. Can they add a third Cup in 2010? Well, to do so, they will need to bring their best.
