2007 Copa America

17 July 2007

2008-09-05T13:18:00.000-07:00

The Cordillera Oriental -- one of three, northern branches of the Andes Mountains -- forks around either side of Lake Maracaibo in northwestern Venezuela. One of the two ranges, the Sierra de Perija, serves as a natural boundary with neighboring Columbia to the west. The other, the Cordillera de Merida, rises above the lake's southern shore before running northward to the Caribbean Sea. Between them, the land plunges into a fertile, productive basin.

The picturesque city of Maracaibo is at the centre of this unique peninsula. With the mountains to the west, the lake to the east, and the Sea to the north, early settlers described the place as La Tierra del Sol Armada -- the Land by the Sun Loved. The discovery of vast reserves of crude oil in 1914 only served to enhance the perception.

Appropriately, Maracaibo was the site of Brazil's latest football triumph, Sunday. In spite of having slogged through the Group Phase before narrowly edging Uruguay on penalties in the semi-final, Dunga's Selecao drubbed Argentina 3-0 in front of 40,000-onlookers at Estadio Panchencho Romero. In so doing, Brazil merely reinforced the belief that, in football terms, it is a Land by the Sun Loved.

Indeed, few pundits would have forecasted a Brazilian victory just a fortnight ago. Brazil stuttered out of the gate -- dropping a 2-0 decision to invitee Mexico and narrowly defeating Ecuador in Puerto La Cruz. And although they anihilated Chile on two occasions, they required penalties in order to advance beyond Uruguay and into Sunday's final.

Even more disturbing, perhaps, was the manner in which Brazil were achieving their results. They hardly looked at their flowing best. In Ronaldinho, Kaka, Adriano, and Ronaldo, they were without four of their best, offensive talents. The full weight of expectation, it seemed, fell on the shoulders of Robinho. The 23-year-old Real Madrid forward was his side's only goal-scorer until Juan's tally in the 16th-minute of Brazil's quarter-final match with Chile.

Still, even fewer would have predicted that Brazil would meekly bow out of the competition with nary a whimper -- such is the quality and repute of their magic. And when Argentina strode cautiously and fearfully into the Parchencho Romero, they played right into Brazil's hand.

Argentina played through the various stages of the Copa America as undisputed favorites. Unlike Brazil, all of their marquee players reported for duty and willingly took their place in manager Alfio Basile's set-up. Juan Roman Riquelme, the field-marshal, had a superb tournament -- scoring 4-goals and creating opportunities throughout the attacking third. Lionel Messi's spectacular goal against Mexico in the semi-final was the moment of the competition. For the better part of three weeks, all indicators pointed to an inevitable Argentina triumph -- their first since 1993.

It all came crashing down after just five minutes. Shakhtar Donetsk midfielder Elano fired a lovely pass to the toes of Julio Baptista. The Madrid forward toyed, momentarily, with Roberto Ayala, and then proceeded to blast the ball past Roberto Abbondanzieri and into the top-right corner of the goal. Argentina were shell-shocked; and they never recovered. From that moment, there was only ever going to be one winner. The Albicelestes were a shadow of their former selves -- tentative and scared to death of losing another final to their arch-rival.

Baptista's opener was made all the more overwhelming by the sheer heat of the afternoon. At 32-degrees Celcius, the match looked destimed to be played at a somewhat plodding pace. And with neither side interested in lightning-quick counter-ttacks and expending unecessary energy, the opening goal was always going to be of monumental importance.

That Brazil stunned Argentina by scoring the first goal of the affair is one thing. That they did it so early in the proceedings is another entirely. Argentina were forced to play attacking, come-from-behind football from the outset -- a reality which, when combined with Brazil's efficiently stifling defensive play, produced an inevitable conclusion.

Perhaps already wilting in the heat, veteran Argentine defender Roberto Ayala deflected Daniel Alves' cross into his own goal after 40-minutes. Alves, fresh off the bench after replacing Elano in the 34th-minute due to injury, persisted in terrorizing Cambiasso, Mascherano, and Heinze throughout the remainder of the match.

Deflated, Argentina looked resigned to playing-out the string in the second half. The match remained a tight affair, however, as the two sides combined for 58-fouls on the night.

It was Alves, again, who struck the final blow. After collecting a pass from Vagner Love, the 24-year-old Sevilla right-back slotted past Abbondanzieri with just over 20-minutes of normal time to play.

At the final whistle, the 3-0 scoreline proved an even greater victory for Brazil than their penalty shoot-out win over Argentina in the 2004 Final. And given the weakened squad against which they lined-up, the defeat will certainly cast a depressing shadow over Argentine football for some time.

If anything, the result demonstrated, once again, that Brazil are never to be counted out. That squads and tactics and previous results mean little when mixed with history, reputation, and magic. Argentina were ever-mindful of these intangibles on Sunday; and it proved their undoing. What, they must have wondered, can stand in the way of La Tierra del Sol Armada.

12 July 2007

2008-09-05T13:17:00.001-07:00

The Orinoco and Caroni rivers converge at Puerto Ordaz -- a carefully-planned city in the east of Venezuela. The largest body of fresh water in the country, Lake Guri, empties into the Orinoco at Puerto Ordaz before being dumped into the Atlantic Ocean at the Boca Grande delta at the north-eastern corner of the South American continent. And on Wednesday, 11 July, Mexico were dumped out of the Copa America by Argentina at Estadio Polideportivo Cachamay -- home to Puerto Ordaz' local football team, Mineros de Guayana.

Mexico manager Hugo Sanchez, celebrating his 49th-birthday, could have been forgiven for approaching the match with considerable optimism. After all, his squad brushed-aside Brazil in the group-phase before embarassing Paraguay 6-0 in the quarterfinal. And for much of the first half, Mexico went tit-for-tat with Argentina.

A Juan Roman Riquelme free-kick in the dying moments of the opening period changed all that. The Boca Juniors field-marshall floated the ball into the box where it was deflected past Mexican goalkeeper Oswaldo Sanchez by the left boot of Gabriel Heinze.

The Manchester United left-back was instrumental in Argentina's second goal as well. Heinze's superb through-ball fell squarely on the boots of Carlos Tevez before the latter passed to Lionel Messi. The Barcelona phenom proceeded to chip an out-of-position Sanchez with a brilliant effort.

Argentina, by now fully in control of things, proceeded to suck the life out of their opponents. On 65-minutes, just 4-minutes after the Messi wonder-goal, Tevez appeared to be tripped-up in the box. And although video-replays suggested that the former Corinthians marksman feigned contact, Chilean official Carlos Chandia pointed to the penalty-spot. Riquelme's successful conversion was his 5th-goal of the tournament and spotted Argentina an insurmountable 3-0 lead with 25-minutes to play.

It was too much for Mexico; and Argentina, pre-tournament favorites, will face Brazil in Sunday's Copa America final in Maracaibo. Mexico will remain in Puerto Ordaz for the third-place game with Uruguay on Saturday.

11 July 2007

2008-09-05T13:16:00.000-07:00

The lights went out on Uruguay's quest for a 15th Copa America title, yesterday. After 14-minutes of play in the 1st-half of Uruguay's semifinal fixture with Brazil in Maracaibo, the floodlights at the Jose Pachencha Romero Stadium failed -- leaving the players, and 40,000-spectators, in darkness. The two sides were subsequently dismissed from the field for an early half-time.

The break seemed to hurt Brazil most. Inter Milan defender Maicon had opened the scoring just prior to the power-outage; and Dunga's Selecao looked poised to ride a wave of momentum throughout the remainder of the period. As it happened, the two teams required a further 20-minutes after the re-start in order to settle. After 36-minutes, however, Deigo Forlan finally equalized for Uruguay. But the scoreline was not level for long. Real Madrid forward Julio Baptista vaulted the defending champions back into the lead just 4-minutes later.

Uruguay seemed to carry the play through much of the following half-hour. Their extended periods of possession finally paid-off in the 70th-minute as Sebastian Abreu restored equality on the scoresheet.

Neither side were particularly interested in chance-taking as the minutes ticked from the referee's watch and the spectre of penalty-kicks loomed. Forlan, recently signed by Atletico Madrid to replace the departed Fernando Torres, missed his country's first spot-kick. Robinho's corresponding goal provided Brazil the immediate advantage. And when Diego Lugano fluffed his effort, the entire Brazil squad raided the pitch in a frenzy of celebration. They may have been somewhat excessive in their revelry, however, as a bust-up involving players from both sides ensued almost immediately.

When things finally settled, Brazil manager Dunga was appropriately reflective on Brazil's turn-around at the competition. "To be a winning team," commented the football icon, "you have to know how to suffer." Brazil have been without Ronaldinho and Kaka for the duration of the tournament and relied on 23-year-old Robinho to carry them through the group-phase.

Uruguay, for their part, have now gone 12-years without a Copa America title. Ironically, that last championship came after a penalty-kick triumph over Brazil in the final in Montevideo. In 1999, Uruguay were runners-up to Brazil in Paraguay.

09 July 2007

2008-09-05T13:15:00.000-07:00

Big scorelines were the theme of the weekend's quarterfinal matches in the 2007 Copa America. Underachievers Uruguay and Brazil earned berths in the final-four by virtue of 4-1 and 6-1 wins over Venezuela and Chile, respectively. Uruguay, two-time World Cup champions, and five-time winner Brazil will now be tied together for the first semi-final to be contested on Tuesday, 10 July in Maracaibo.

Diego Forlan scored a brace for the Uruguaians -- 14-times the champion of the Copa America -- en-route to a 4-1 stuffing of hosts Venezuela. After stuttering through the group fixtures with a win, a loss, and a draw, Oscar Tabarez' side finally came together -- striking twice in a 2-minute spell just prior to the interval. Maximiliano Pereira played Forlan into space with a superb through-ball for the opener in the 39th-minute; and Juan Fernando Arango doubled the spread in the 41st. Pablo Garcia ended all hope of a comeback just after the hour-mark; although Christian Rodriguez pulled one back with just 3-minutes of normal time to play. Forlan completed his double in the 90th-minute. Despite the loss, the host Venezuelans were reflective regarding the disappointing result. Midfielder Ricardo Paez stated, "We represented the country with dignity but I'm disappointed because we could have done more."

Brazil, like Uruguay, were looking to raise their game a notch as the knock-out fixtures got underway. And having already defeated Chile by a 3-goal margin in the group-stage, the road looked paved to the semi-finals. Juan opened the scoring with a header on 16-minutes -- the beginning of a torrential period of offense from the Brazilians. Julio Baptista doubled the score-line in the 24th-minute and Robinho, his squad's only goal-scorer through the previous three matches, added a third goal just shy of the half-hour. Far from finished, the Real Madrid marksman added his 6th-goal of the competition just 6-minutes after the re-start. Porto's Vagner Love rounded-out the scoring for Brazil in the 85th-minute. Humberto Suazo scored Chile's only goal of the match.

Mexico and Argentina also advanced to the semifinals in style. The two international heavyweights will now tangle on Wednesday, 11 July at Puerto Ordaz. Paraguay, having impressed in big wins over Columbia and the United States, looked more the side that was victimized by Argentina in the final match of the group-phase. In truth, Gerardo Martino's Guaranies got off to a very poor start in Maturin. After just 3-minutes of play, defender Aldo Antonio Bobadilla was shown a straight red-card for his tackle on Mexico's Nery Castillo inside the box. Castillo converted the resulting penalty; and Mexico were well on their way to a convincing victory. They scored five more goals with the man-advantage -- Castillo hitting the mark again in the 39th-minute and Cuahtemoc Blanco successfully converting his side's second penalty of the night. The Paraguay attack, so dependent on the front-two of Salvador Cabanas and Roque Santa Cruz, were non-existent -- further emphasizing the commonly-held view that Paraguay never deliver two, consistently strong performances in succession. Gerardo Torrado, Fernando Arce, and Omar Bravo rounded-out the scoring for Mexico at Estadio Monumental.

Incredibly, Argentina have not won the Copa America since 1993. Ominously, they defeated Mexico in the final of that competition in Ecuador -- claiming their second-straight South American title. Even more astonishing is the fact that the Albicelestes have failed to advance beyond the quarterfinals more than once. Peru, as it turned out, proved little more than a bump in the road for Alfio Basile's pre-tournament favorites. Still, for all their creativity and play-making, Argentina were kept from the scoresheet until the 2nd-half. Lionel Messi had the best opportunity of the opening period -- hitting the bar in the 18th-minute. After the re-start, however, Boca Juniors maestro Juan Roman Riquelme took things into his own hands. Not only did the former

Barcelona and Villarreal star score twice, in the 47th and 86th-minutes, he also made Messi's goal just after the hour-mark. Liverpool midfielder Javier Mascherano scored Argentina's third goal in the 75th-minute.

06 July 2007

2008-09-05T13:14:00.002-07:00

Argentina finished atop Group-C in the Copa America, yesterday, by virtue of a 1-0 win over 2nd-place Paraguay. Still, both sides will advance into the quarter-final stage of the competition. Argentina have been tied with Peru while Paraguay will face Mexico. Both matches will be played on Sunday, 08 July, at Barquisimento and Maturin, respectively.

Barquisimento was also host to the final pair of fixtures in Group-C, yesterday. The matches were played in the Metripolitano Stadium of the northwestern city -- just west of Caracas. Columbia defeated the United States 1-0 in the day's early start. Jaime Alberto Castrillon scored the game's only goal in the 16th-minute -- heading a superb Camilo Ziniga cross past Brad Guzon in the American goal. Hugo Rodallega looked to have his side on the cusp of a 2-0 advantage when he was awarded a penalty in the 35th-minute. He fluffed the effort, however; and both sides looked content to play out the string. With Argentina and Paraguay having run roughshod over their Group-C rivals, both teams took the field knowing that qualification for the last-8 was already out of reach. The most interesting storyline of the match came within the final 20-minutes. Columbian goalkeeper Robinson Zapata was shown his first of two yellow-cards in the 72nd-minute. His second was awarded for time-wasting with 3-minutes of normal-time to play. With Jorge Luis Pinto already having made his three substitutions, striker Rodallega went into the goal for the remainder of the match.

Argentina-versus-Paraguay was the show-down for 1st-place in Group-C. By virtue of their superior goal-differential, however, Paraguay required only a draw to guarantee a tie with Peru in the quarter-final. Over their first two matches, La Albirroja managed an impressive 8-goals -- Bayern Munich striker Roque Santa Cruz leading the way with 3-tallies against Columbia. But they seemed rather in over their heads against Argentina. Aimar, Cambiasso, Gago, and Gonzalez dominated the midfield while Roberto Abbondanzieri made several key saves in goal. With both sides guaranteed a place in the next round, the manager's opted to rest a handful of key players. Gabriel Heinze, Lionel Messi, Javier Mascherano, Hernan Crespo, and Juan Roman Riquelme were among the substitutes on the Argentine bench. Mascherano, however, got his chance to come onto the field in the 67th-minute. The change paid immediate dividends for manager Alfio Basile. The Liverpool midfielder scored the game's only goal in the 79th-minute. In truth, Argentina might well have been 3-0 up at the final whistle. Carlos Tevez hit the bar shortly after the interval and Pablo Aimar also missed a superb opportunity.

05 July 2007

2008-09-05T13:14:00.001-07:00

Brazil and Chile have qualified for the quarter-final round of the Copa America. They join Venezuela, Uruguay, Mexico, Peru, Argentina, and Paraguay in the last-8 of the competition. They are also set to go head-to-head on Sunday, 07 July, in the first knock-out round at Puerto La Cruz. Hosts Venezuela will face Uruguay in San Cristobal in Sunday's early match. Mexico await the loser of today's Group-C tilt between Argentina and Paraguay. The winner will be tied to Peru on Monday, 08 July, in Barquistimeto.

Chile advanced into the last-8 by virtue of a 0-0 draw with Group-B winners Mexico. In an identical scenario to the previous day's snoozer between Venezuela and Uruguay, Mexico had already qualified for the quarter-final stage and Chile required only a single point. The result was a rather uneventful 90-minutes. Still, Chile looked to more interested side throughout the proceedings. Carlos Villaneuva flubbed a clear opportunity in front of the Mexican goal while Juan Larca and Humberto Suazo also tested goalkeeper Guillermo Ochoa. Mexico appeared reluctant to expend unnecessary energy -- having already defeated both Ecuador and Brazil.

Robinho's successful conversion on a questionable penalty earned Brazil a 1-0 win over Ecuador and a place in the last-8. Argentinean referee Sergio Pezzotto seemed to indicate that the Real Madrid forward had taken a dive before motioning to the spot. Carlos Tenorio was denied a similar appeal for penalty in the latter stages of the second half and was shown a yellow-card for simulation, to boot. Robinho tumbled over defender Giovanny Espinoza in the 54th-minute before scoring moments later. He has bagged 4-goals in the competition and is Brazil's only marksman thus far. Dunga's Selecao have looked nothing like the defending champions which won the tournament in 2004. They will have their hands full with Chile on Sunday.

04 July 2007

2008-09-05T13:13:00.000-07:00

Three more countries qualified for the last-8 of the Copa America, Tuesday. Peru's 2-2 draw with Bolivia earned Julio Cesar Uribe's blanquirroja the second seed in Group-A. Venezuela emerge as group winners -- courtesy of a 0-0 draw with Uruguay. The Uruguaians, World Cup winners in 1930 and 1950, also advance to the quarter-finals as one of two 3rd-seeded clubs.

DC United striker Jaime Moreno put Bolivia into the lead after 25-minutes at Estadio Metropolitano de Merita on Tuesday afternoon. But Claudio Pizarro answered for Peru just 9-minutes later. The newly-signed Chelsea forward headed past goalkeeper Huga Suarez after connecting with a superb free-kick from Juan Carlos Marino. Bolivia went ahead again, however, through Jhasmany Campos in 1st-half stoppage-time. La Verde held to their lead through most of the second half. Pizarro, as it happened, had other ideas -- he and Marino recreating their 1st-half goal in the 85th-minute. The draw leaves Peru with 4-points in Group-A at the conclusion of the Group Phase -- good for second-place in the bracket.

Tuesday's evening contest had Venezuela and Uruguay tied together in a rather meaningless encounter. The earlier result ensured that Venezuela were guaranteed a place in the quarter-finals; while Uruguay required merely a draw to go through. With nothing to play for, nothing of note occurred through the 90-minutes. The hosts did carry much of the play, however, and narrowly missed chances through Juan Arayo, Ciancarlo Maldenado, Jose Torrealbe, and Cesar Gonzalez. The splitting of the points leaves Venezuela top Group-A with 5-points -- two better than third-place Uruguay.

03 July 2007

2008-09-05T13:12:00.000-07:00

Paraguay and Argentina have advanced into the last-8 of the Copa America. Paraguay defeated the United States 3-1 at La Carolina, yesterday while Argentina dismissed Columbia 4-2 at the Jose Parchencho Romero stadium. Level on 6-points atop Group-C, the two sides will lock horns on Thursday, 05 July at Estadio Metropolitano.

NIC Nijmegen midfielder Edgar Barreto opened the scoring for Paraguay, yesterday afternoon. The 22-year-old's strike was canceled by Houston Dynamo defensive midfielder Ricardo Clark just 10-minutes later. And while Oscar Rene Cardozo regained the lead for Paraguay just shy of the hour-mark, the Americans missed scores of opportunities for an equalizer over the final 30-minutes. Salvador Cabanas rubbed salt in the wound with his insurance-marker in added-time. The goal was his third of the tournament thus far. "The result was difficult for us," stated American coach Bob Bradley. "We feel the effort of the team was strong."

Argentina tallied 4-goals for the second consecutive match -- routing Columbia 4-2 through a Juan Roman Riquelme brace. The Columbians started brightly, however. Edixon Perea, the 24-year-old Bordeaux player, opened his country's account after 10-minutes -- deflecting David Ferreira's effort with a superb back-heel. Hernan Crespo equalized for Argentina on a penalty-kick just 9-minutes later after Lionel Messi was tripped in the area. Unfortunately for the Inter Milan striker, he pulled a muscle while taking the kick and was immediately replaced by Real Zaragoza forward Alberto Diego Milito. Argentina tallied twice more before the interval. Riquelme scored both times -- the first a header from a lovely Javier Zanetti cross. Jaime Alberto Castrillon pulled Columbia to within a goal with his strike in the 73rd-minute. But Milito made good on his substitution -- rounding-out the scoring in 2nd-half added-time.

Sunday's fixtures included a 3-0 win for Brazil over Chile and Mexico's 2-1 defeat of Ecuador. The victory gives Brazil its first points of the competition after last week's loss to Mexico. The Mexicans, on the other hand, are through to the quarter-finals with the win. Nery Castillo and Omar Bravo did the business for Mexico while Robinho struck a hat-trick for Brazil.

In today's action, Peru will face Bolivia while Venezuela take on Uruguay.

29 June 2007

2008-09-05T13:11:00.001-07:00

Hernan Crespo scored twice as Argentina cruised to a 4-1 over the United States in Venezuela, yesterday. Kansas City Wizards striker Eddie Johnson opened the scoring after just 8-minutes -- pacing the USA to an early lead in their first-ever Copa America appearance. Johnson, having run onto a brilliant through-ball from Benny Feilhaber, was taken-down in the box by Gabriel Milito and awarded a penalty. His subsequent goal, however, was canceled by Crespo's first of the night just 4-minutes later. The two sides remained level until just after the hour-mark when things finally clicked for the Argentineans. Crespo's second goal, on 64-minutes, was the 34th of his international career -- tying Diego Maradona's total for Argentina. Esteban Cambiasso was substituted in favor of Pablo Aimar in the 58th-minute; and Aimar responded by tallying in the 78th-minute. With Argentina 3-1 up, Lionel Messi made way for Carlos Tevez. Manager Alfio Basile's golden touch with his substitions continued as Tevez struck Argentina's 4th-goal on the night with 5-minutes remaining in normal time. Argentina will face Columbia on Monday while the United States will play their next game against Paraguay.

American Bob Bradley will, no doubt, have his hands full. Paraguay eased past Columbia on Thursday afternoon -- riding a natural hat-trick from Roque Santa Cruz. Still, Columbia were very much alive in the match through the opening 45-minutes. Their bright start reached its peak at 26-minutes when Alvaro Dominguez took to the penalty -spot -- David Ferreira having been brought down in the box. Dominguez' weak effort was saved by Justo Villa, however; and Santa Cruz opened the floodgates for Paraguay just 4-minutes later. The Bayern Munich striker doubled the lead just after the interval before both sides settled for the balance of the 2nd-half. Santa Cruz completed his hat-trick 10-minutes from time; and Club America forward Salvador Cabanas added 2-goals within a 3-minute period just before the final whistle

28 June 2007

2008-09-05T13:10:00.000-07:00

Mexico delivered the Copa America's second upset in as many days, last night. Nery Castillo and Ramon Morales struck within a 5-minute spell in the 1st-half to give Hugo Sanchez' Mexican side a surprising 2-0 win over Brazil. A tentative start to the contest was blown wide open when Castillo creatively scooped the ball over the challenging defender before converting past Brazilian goalkeeper Doni for the first goal of the match. Morales doubled the lead shortly thereafter with a lovely free-kick. Brazil manager Dunga brought new Manchester United signing Anderson into the action for the 2nd-half. And while both he and Real Madrid striker Robinho repeatedly pelted the Mexican goal, they were constantly repelled by the goaltending heroics of Guillermo Ochoa. Brazil will next play on 01 July against Chile while Mexico face Ecuador.

The other Group-B encounter on Wednesday had Ecuador against Chile. Antonio Valencia paced Luis Suarez' Ecuador side to the early lead after 16-minutes before both teams exchanged goals in a 2-minute spell just after the 20-minute mark. The furious attacking football waned slightly after Christian Rogelio Benitez gave Ecuador a 2-1 in the 23rd-minute -- cancelling Hamberto Suazo's equalizer. The Ecuadorians had several chances to put the game out of reach in the second interval. Claudio Bravo, however, was sensational in the Chilean goal. His performance kept Chile in the game; and when Suazo scored his second goal on the night in the 80th-minute, there was no looking back. Carlos Villanueva struck the match-winner 3-minute from time as Chile joined Mexico atop Group-D.

27 June 2007

2008-09-05T12:57:00.000-07:00

Peru stunned Uruguay in the opening fixture of the 2007 Copa America, yesterday. Juan Carlos Marino and Jose Paolo Guerrero added to Peru's 1-0 lead with goals in the final 20-minutes -- putting the match out of reach for the heavily-favored Uruguayans. Miguel Angel Villalta had opened the scoring just prior to the half-hour. A short corner-kick was crossed superby by Jefferson Farfan onto the head of Villalta for the first goal of the tournament at Venezuela's Estadio Metropolitano de Merida. Uruguay carried the play from that point on; although Marino's strike in the 70th-minute was well-deserved. The winger raced down the right-hand flank against the run of play before blasting a streaking shot from distance into the opposing goal. Uruguay had been favored to win Group-A; and the splitting of points between Venezuela and Bolivia will not serve to aid their cause.

Giancarlos Maldonado scored Venezuela's first goal of the competition to rapturous ovation at the Pueblo Nuevo stadium, yesterday. His opener was quickly canceled by Bolivia's Jaime Moreno, however -- a pattern which repeated itself throughout the contest. Just prior to the hour-mark, Ricardo David Paez put the host nation ahead once again. Paez, the son of manager Richard Paez, certainly left his mark on the match. Not only did he provide a lead which nearly won the game for Venezuela, but his creativity made Maldonado's opener. With time ticking from the referee's watch and the hosts nursing a 2-1 lead amid furious pressure, Juan Carlos Arce equalized for Bolivia with 6-minutes of normal time remaining. And although Bolivia pelted Venezuelan goalkeeper Renny Vicente Vega in search of a win, they were rather lucky to escape with a single point. In the dying moments of 2nd-half added-time, a questionable foul by defender Gualberto Mojica was met with houls for a penalty from the crowd and Venezuela bench. The cries fell on deaf ears, however -- as Ecuadorian official Mauricio Reineso allowed the match to end in a controversial draw.

Both of today's matches will be played at Estadio Cachamay. In Group-B action, Ecuador will face Chile and Brazil will duel Mexico.