Estadio Monumental, Buenos Aires, Argentina
URUGUAY 3 : 0 PARAGUAY
Suarez 12', Forlan 42', 89'
Uruguay won the Copa America by a canter this afternoon to confirm themselves as undisputed champions of South America, a record 15th
A skillful early strike from Luis Suarez set them on the road to victory and a brace from another sharp marksman Diego Forlan made it sure.
From early on it was clear that the World Cup semi-finalists were the better team. Paraguay, who curiously had reached the final without winning a game, found themselves on the back foot in the 12th minute.
Suarez's quick feet allowed him to nip inside his marker and rifle a shot into the far corner to give Las Charruas the lead. Uruguay doubled their lead four minutes before the break when Forlan finished off a zig-zagging move after stealing the ball in Paraguay's last third.
Two down at the interval, Paraguay had to come out and play and managed to hit the crossbar through Nelson Valdez in the 54th minute, but they could not make inroads. Then the arrival of substitute Edinson Cavani in the Uruguayan attack just after the hour reminded us which team had more talent to call upon.
Paraguay pushed upfield and had plenty of play in Uruguay's last third, but had a wall of sky-blue shirts in front of them. Pablo Zeballos had a decent penalty appeal waved away in the 70th minute, which might have let his team back into the game.
But as the minutes ticked away and Paraguay maintained their siege without penetration, the risk of counter-attacks grew bigger. One such raid a minute from time saw Forlan, that exquisite finisher, find the net again to complete a comprehensive victory.
In winning the Copa America for the first time since 1995, Uruguay also qualify for the 2013 Confederations Cup in Brazil.
Peru won third place, defeating Venezuela 4-1. Peru's Pablo Guerrero finished top scorer of the tournament with five goals, one more than Suarez.
URU - Muslera, M. Pereira, Lugano, Coates, J. Caceres (Godin 88'), Gonzalez, D.Perez (Eguren 69'), Rios, A. Pereira (Cavani 63'), Forlan, Suarez
PAR - Villar, Piris, Da Silva, Veron, Marecos, Vera (Estigarribia 64'), Ortigoza, V. Caceres (H.Perez 64'), Riveros, Valdez, Zeballos (Barrios 76')
(c) Sean O'Conor & Soccerphile
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Copa America final
Friday, July 22, 2011 5:57 PM
URUGUAY v PARAGUAY
Sunday 1600h Buenos Aires, Argentina
Uruguay and Paraguay are getting ready to fight it out for the Copa America on Sunday in Buenos Aires.
It has been a cup of shocks, with Argentina, Brazil and Colombia surprisingly falling by the wayside, but in the end two consistent sides who qualified for the 2010 World Cup have reached the final.
Two rapier strikes from Luis Suarez ended the Peruvian adventure,
while Paraguay needed spot-kicks to kill off the Vinotintos of Venezuela
Interestingly, Paraguay have yet to win a game in normal time but are in the final. They last won the Copa in 1979, Uruguay in 1995. Another win for the Uruguayans would make them the most successful nation in the competition's history, leapfrogging Argentina's 14 trophies.
In their five respective games so far, Paraguay have outpassed Uruguay 1447 to 1060, but the Uruguayans have narrowly outscored them six to five and had 25 shots on target to Paraguay's 22.
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