Copa America - Page 2

liam_hurricane · #11 (**permalink**) 06-29-2007, 12:25 AM

Paraguay have a good claim to be considered South America’s third force. They are the only country from the continent apart from Brazil and Argentina to have made it to the last three World Cups, where they have never been anything less than competitive.
But their strength has not been reflected in the Copa America. They have won it twice, but not for a long time (1953 and 1979), and since the latter triumph, their best finish was a rather insipid fourth place in 1989. However, they will not be too distraught about an early exit in Venezuela as long as the campaign helps them prepare a team for the World Cup qualifiers.

The principal plus point of this Copa is the opportunity it gives new coach Gerardo Martino to get his feet under the table. Internal wrangling in Paraguayan football delayed his appointment until February – only Peru left it later to name their coach.

Martino starts from scratch, and his task will not be easy. Paraguay are now facing life without stalwart centre-back Carlos Gamarra and striker Jose Cardozo. A rebuilding process began under Anibal Ruiz during the last set of qualifiers. Martino must now complete it. He is working to naturalise Argentina-born midfielders Jonathan Santana (Wolfsburg) and Sergio Aquino (Libertad), and Uruguayan striker Rodrigo Lopez, also of Libertad.

Paraguay squad:
Goalkeepers: Justo Villar (Newell's Old Boys, Argentina), Aldo Bobadilla (Boca Juniors, Argentina), Joel Zayas (Bolívar, Bolivia).

Defenders: Paulo da Silva (Toluca, México), Claudio Morel (Boca Juniors, Argentina), Julio César Cáceres (UANL Tigres, México), Darío Verón (Pumas, México), Julio Manzur (Guaraní, Paraguay), Carlos Bonet (Libertad, Paraguay), Enrique Vera (LDU Quito, Equador).

Midfielders: Edgar González (Cerro Porteño, Paraguay), Cristian Riveros (Libertad, Paraguay), Aureliano Torres (San Lorenzo, Argentina), Jonathan Santana (Wolfsburg, Germany), Edgar Barreto (NEC Nimegue, Holland), Domingo Salcedo (Cerro Porteño, Paraguay), Julio dos Santos (Bayern Munich, Germany).

Strikers: Salvador Cabañas (Club América, México), Dante López (Crotone, Italy), Roque Santa Cruz (Bayern Munich, Germany), Oscar Cardozo (Newell's Old Boys, Argentina), Nelson Cuevas (Club América).

Fixtures
Group C
June 28 Paraguay v Colombia (Maracaibo)
July 2 United States v Paraguay (Barinas)
July 5 Argentina v Paraguay (Barquisimeto)

liam_hurricane · #12 (**permalink**) 06-29-2007, 12:28 AM

Victory in Venezuela would be Uruguay’s 15th continental title, putting them one ahead of Argentina at the top of the all-time winners chart. In terms of the Copa America, Uruguay’s prowess is not mere ancient heritage, either. They were winners in 1995, runners-up in 1999 and semi-finalists in the last two editions.
But such achievements cannot mask the national team’s relative decline. Where it matters, the World Cup, the Sky Blues have missed out on three of the last four tournaments. In an attempt to recapture lost ground, Uruguay have turned to one of their most experienced and respected coaches, Oscar Washington Tabarez, who began his second spell in charge of the national team in March last year.

His project is wide-ranging. It includes integration with the national sides from Under-15 level up, and the search for new talent taking in remote parts of the country, rather than the traditional concentration on Montevideo.

This, then, is a long-term quest to get Uruguayan football back on track. But coaches live and die by short-term results, and while Uruguay have emerged with credit from some tricky away fixtures, they were just friendlies. Now the competitive challenges are looming. “Our primary aim is to qualify for the 2010 World Cup,” Tabarez says. “The Copa America will help us gauge where we are. If we win the title, great, but the important thing is to take a big step on the way to World Cup qualification.”

Uruguay squad:
Goalkeepers: Fabián Carini (Inter Milan, Italy), Juan Castillo (Penarol, Uruguay).

Defenders: Diego Lugano (Fenerbaçhe SK, Turkey), Dario Rodriguez (Schalke 04, Germany), Andres Scotti (Argentinos Juniors, Argentina), Carlos Valdez (Treviso, Italy), Diego Godin (Nacional, Uruguay), Carlos Diogo (Real Zaragoza, Spain), Jorge Fucile (FC Porto, Portugal).

Midfielders: Pablo Garcia (Celta Vigo, Spain), Diego Perez (AS Monaco, France), Fabian Canobbio (Celta Vigo, Spain), Cristian Rodriguez (Paris Saint Germain, France), Walter Gargano (Danubio, Uruguay), Maximiliano Pereira (Defensor Sporting, Uruguay), Ignacio Gonzalez (Danubio, Uruguay).

Strikers: Diego Forlán (Villarreal CF, Spain), Álvaro Recoba (Inter Milan, Italy), Fabian Estoyanoff (Deportivo La Coruna, Spain), Sebastian Abreu (Tigres, Mexico), Vicente Sanchez (Toluca, Mexico), Gonzalo Vargas (AS Monaco, France).

Fixtures
Group A
June 26 Uruguay v Peru (Merida)
June 30 Bolivia v Uruguay (San Cristobal)
July 3 Venezuela v Uruguay (Merida)[/color]

liam_hurricane · #13 (**permalink**) 06-29-2007, 12:29 AM

For two reasons, the Copa America squad will definitely be an experimental one. Firstly, given that the United States are a guest team, the Copa is not considered an official tournament for them, so clubs cannot be compelled to release players. That will affect mostly players with European clubs – meaning the Copa squad will be made up largely of players from MLS teams. Secondly, the US have another tournament on their mind. Right before the Copa, there is the CONCACAF Gold Cup, the regional championship, which the USA is hosting.
The Gold Cup is clearly being given more weight, not least because winning it has an important pay-off: a place in the 2009 Confederations Cup. “Winning the Gold Cup is our most important priority this year,” new coach Bob Bradley has said.

The Gold Cup Final is on June 24 in Chicago, and the US expect to be in it. But just four days later they play their first Copa game in Maracaibo, against Argentina.

Only about half the players who are in the Gold Cup squad will fly down to Venezuela.

“Between eight and 12 guys will play in both tournaments,” Bradley says.

To complete the fixture congestion, there is the Under-20 World Youth Cup in Canada (June 30-July 22), which will claim the coach’s son, Michael Bradley (who will play in the Gold Cup), Freddy Adu and promising striker Josmer Altidore.

Despite the overload, Bradley maintains that he will not be fielding a second-string team in Venezuela. He says: “We understand our responsibility to put out a competitive team. Our aim, as always in tournaments of this sort, is to qualify for the second round. And then we’ll see.”

USA squad:
Goalkeepers: Brad Guzan (Chivas USA), Kasey Keller (Unattached).

Defenders: Jonathan Bornstein (Chivas USA), Bobby Boswell (D.C. United), Dan Califf (Aalborg BK), Jimmy Conrad (Kansas City Wizards), Jay DeMerit (Watford FC), Drew Moor (FC Dallas), Heath Pearce (FC Nordsjælland), Marvell Wynne (Toronto FC).

Midfielders: Kyle Beckerman (Colorado Rapids), Ricardo Clark (Houston Dynamo), Benny Feilhaber (Hamburger SV), Eddie Gaven (Columbus Crew), Sacha Kljestan (Chivas USA), Justin Mapp (Chicago Fire), Lee Nguyen (PSV Eindhoven), Ben Olsen (D.C.United).

Strikers: Charlie Davies (Hammarby IF), Herculez Gomez (Colorado Rapids), Eddie Johnson (Kansas City Wizards), Taylor Twellman (New England Revolution).

Fixtures
Group C
June 28 Argentina v United States (Maracaibo)
July 2 United States v Paraguay (Barinas)
July 5 Colombia v United States (Barquisimeto)

liam_hurricane · #14 (**permalink**) 06-29-2007, 12:30 AM

Venezuela’s turn to host the Copa America, for the first time, could not have come at a better moment. The team have made enormous strides under coach Richard Paez, winning significant numbers of World Cup qualifiers, while the country has been exporting players – there are internationals based with clubs in Spain, Cyprus, Bulgaria, Chile, Morocco, South Africa and Norway.
Until recently, Venezuela were considered the odd ones out in South America (not including the Guyanas, who are members of CONCACAF). While the other nine nations have all taken fervently to football, Venezuela has traditionally been baseball territory.

The country did not enter the World Cup qualifying competition until 1965, and by the end of the qualifiers for France 98 had won only two matches in total. That changed dramatically in the 2002 qualifiers, when they won five games out of 18, a number they matched in the campaign for 2006. Last year, they even won a match in Europe, for the first time, beating Austria 1-0 in a friendly.

Venezuela now have to make the next leap forward. Despite their recent progress, they have still to record a win over either Argentina or Brazil and they never really looked like qualifying for the most recent World Cup.

Hosting the Copa America could be just the push they need. President Hugo Chavez’s government has spent lavishly on new stadiums and has ambitiously distributed the tournament among nine venues. Rather conveniently, Venezuela have also landed in the easiest first-round group, facing Uruguay, Bolivia and Peru.

The team is based on the Caracas club side, who beat River Plate away in this year’s Libertadores Cup, the first time a Venezuelan team had won a match in Argentina in South America’s top club competition.

Venezuela squad:
Goalkeepers: Javier Toyo, Renny Vega.

Defenders: Jose Manuel Rey, Oswaldo Vizcarrondo, Luis Ballenilla, Jorge Rojas, Alejandro Cichero, Andres Rouga, Leonel Vielma, Hector Gonzalez.

Midfielders: Pedro Fernandez, Miguel Mea Vitali, Luis Vera, Alejandro Guerra, Edder Perez, Cesar Gonzalez, Ricardo David Paez.

Strikers: Fernando De Ornelas, Juan Arango, Giancarlo Maldonado, Jose Torrealba, Mamelodi Sundowns, Daniel Arismendi.

Fixtures
Group A
June 26 Venezuela v Bolivia (San Cristobal)
June 30 Venezuela v Peru (San Cristobal)
July 3 Venezuela v Uruguay (Merida)

liam_hurricane · #15 (**permalink**) 06-29-2007, 12:36 AM

Peru have not qualified for the World Cup since 1982, they made only the quarter-finals as Copa America hosts three years ago and there has been little to suggest an improvement in Venezuela. Last year, they produced a string of uninspiring performances in friendlies under Franco Navarro and his contract was not renewed. This year, the country’s three clubs in the Libertadores Cup – Sporting Cristal, Alianza Lima and Cienciano – all fell at the first hurdle.
Following Navarro’s exit, Julio Cesar Uribe was brought back for a second stint but has got off to a troubled start, with a mass desertion of Europe-based players for the friendly away to Japan, which Peru lost 2-0.

The game was followed by one of the “scandals” the Peruvian tabloids like to create, the claim being that Uribe and his players went to a nightclub after the match. The coach was fined 30 per cent of a month’s wages, not for the act itself but for denying he had done it.

Since then, most of the discussions have centred on whether or not Peru should play their home World Cup qualifiers at high altitude in Cusco.

To compound the problems, both Germany-based striker Claudio Pizarro and England-based midfielder Nolberto Solano appear to have fallen out with the federation and are unlikely to play.

Peru, however, have been placed in the easiest group and could sneak into the last eight if Jefferson Farfan finds his best form and Uribe can keep the tabloids at bay for the duration of the tournament.

Peru squad:
Goalkeepers: Juan Flores (Cienciano), Leao Butrón (San Martín), George Forsyth (Alianza Lima).

Defenders: Santiago Acasiete (Unión Deportiva Almería, Spain), Alberto Rodríguez (Sporting Braga, Portugal), Walter Vílchez (Cruz Azul, México), Edgar Villamarín (Cienciano), Miguel Villalta (Sporting Cristal), John Galliquio (Universitario), Juan Manuel Vargas (Catania, Italy)

Midfielders: Juan Carlos Mariño (Cienciano), Juan Carlos Bazalar (Cienciano), Juan Carlos De la Haza (Cienciano), Jhoel Herrera (Alianza Lima), Pedro García (San Martín), Damián Ismodes (Sporting Cristal).

Strikers: Jefferson Farfán (PSV Eindhoven, Holland), Andrés Mendoza (FK Metallurg Donestk, Ukraine), Paolo Guerrero (Hamburgo SV, Germany), Claudio Pizarro (Chelsea FC, England), Roberto Jiménez (San Lorenzo de Almagro, Argentina), Ysrael Zúñiga (FC Melgar).

Fixtures
Group A
June 26 Uruguay v Peru (Merida)
June 30 Venezuela v Peru (San Cristobal)
July 3 Peru v Bolivia (Merida)