MATCH 16 REPORT : BIELSA CHANGES THE TEAM AND ARGENTINA BEAT URUGUAY

In an action-packed game, in which the coaches were the standouts, Argentina beat bitter rivals Uruguay 4-2 and ended the first phase of Copa America as runners-up, with 6 points, and face Peru in the quarterfinals. Despite the defeat, Uruguay are still in contention, but depend on the results of the matches between Brazil X Paraguay and Chile X Costa Rica.

The first half of the fiercest derby in the world, with a total of 194 clashes, lived up to tradition. With chances from both sides, violent plays and goals galore, Uruguay went ahead with a quality strike from Fabian Estoyanoff, on 7 minutes. Dissatisfied with the loss to Mexico, Marcelo Bielsa fielded Argentina without striker Saviola. So, Argentina had to count on the offensive moves of right-winger Luis Gonzalez. In one of his plays, he was bundled in the box and Killy Gonzales duly converted the spot-kick. While the Uruguayans were still trying to recover from the blow, Luciano Fugueroa (Saviola´s replacement) pounced on keeper Luis Barbat´s rebound and turned the game around. On 34 minutes, after a crude challenge, Uruguayan defender Joe Bizera received his second booking and was given his marching orders. Despite being a man down, Uruguayan grit came to the fore and Vicente Sanchez leveled the scores to make it 2 apiece after a counter-attack.

After the break, coach Jorge Fossati change his side, strengthening his defensive system by closing his ranks. Uruguay marked well, and keeper Barbat made important saves, as in strikes by Figueroa, on 63 minutes, and Luis Gonzalez, on 77. In order to breach Fossati´s blockade, Marcelo Bielsa fielded Carlos Tevez, Mariano Gonzales and ... Saviola. His replacements paid dividends and on 80 minutes, Ayala beat the Uruguayan defenders to put Argentina back in front. The Celeste, playing in red, succumbed and after a pass by Tevez, Figueroa bagged a brace and sealed Argentina´s 14th win against Uruguay in the history of Copa America.

Argentina: Roberto Abbondanzieri, Javier Zanetti, Roberto Ayala, Gabriel Heinze and Clemente Rodríguez (Mariano González 5´/2); Javier Mascherano, Luis González (Javier Saviola 34´/2), Andrés D´Alessandro and Cristian González; Cesar Delgado (Carlos Tévez 31/2) and Luciano Figueroa. Coach: Marcelo Bielsa

Uruguay: Luis Barbat, Carlos Diogo, Joe Bizera, Alejandro Lago and Dario Rodríguez; Diego Pérez, Marcelo Sosa (Carlos Bueno 40´/2), Javier Delgado and Diego Forlán; Fabián Estoyanoff (Guilhermo Rodríguez 40´/1) and Vicente Sánchez (Cristian Rodríguez 26´/2). Coach: Jorge Fossati

Venue: Estádio Miguel Grau (Piura-PER)

Referee: Rubén Selman (CHI)

Assistant Referees: Cristian Julio (CHI) and Nelson Cano (PAR)

copyright "Traffic Sports Marketing" - All rights reserved