Copa America - Quarter Final Results

The preliminaries are over - and the big guns bared their teeth over the weekend in the Copa America Quarter-Finals.

On Saturday :

Uruguay 4-1 Venezuela (HT 1-1)
Uruguay were too strong for hosts Venezuela, taking an early lead in the first half although the home side did peg it back just before halftime.

However, in the second half Uruguay showed their class with a well taken second goal and then a pair of goals late on inflated the score to a lopsided 4-1 margin.

Brazil 6-1 Chile (HT 3-0)
In the second game Brazil demonstrated some great power and precision to defeat Chile for the second time in the tournament - but more than that they managed to send a warning that the "Samba Swagger" was back.

Brazil took the lead after 14 minutes when Bayer Leverkusen defender Juan took advantage of a static Chilean defence to head home Maicon's corner.

Six minutes later, Maicon won the ball in the midfield and fed Vagner Love, who in turn found Julio Batista and the forward made no mistake from inside the box.

Robinho then made it 3-0 after some good individual work resulted in a measured finish from the edge of area.

Robinho grabbed his second of the game on 51 minutes as the Real Madrid forward applied the finish to Gilberto Silva's cross after the Chilean defence had once again gone missing.

It was 5-0 after 68 minutes when Chile keeper Claudio Bravo parried Afonso's shot but was powerless to stop Josue converting the rebound.

Chile did bag a consolation goal eight minutes later when striker Humberto Suazo cleverly lobbed the ball over but Vagner Love completed the rout right at the death after good approach work from Elano.

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On Sunday :

Mexico 6-0 Paraguay (HT 3-0)
Mexico made a huge impact on the Copa America with this 6-0 thrashing of Paraguay, although their task was made easier by the 2nd minute dismissal of Paraguayian keeper Aldo Bobadilla when a woeful back-pass from Julio Cesar Caceres allowed Nery Castillo to get a clear run on goal which was crudely halted by Bobadilla.

Bobadilla was shown the red card and Castillo slotted home the spot-kick past replacement custodian Joel Zayas.

The second goal came in the 26th minute when Juan Carlos Cacho burst through midfield without a challenge before laying the ball off to Gerardo Torrado and his rising drive flew past the helpless Zayas.

Twelve minutes later, Castillo proved why he has been one of the Copa America's outstanding performers with his fourth goal of the tournament - a fine volley from the edge of the area.

A late flurry of goals in the final 11 minutes blew out the score - but this match was dead and buried by halftime.

Argentina 4-0 Peru (HT 0-0)
Argentina showed some real steel in the second half of the final Copa America quarter-final with their big players getting on the scoreboard.

Goals from Riquelme (47, 85), Messi (62) and Mascherano (75) meant that the Argentine side fired back their own warning message - as they completed the set of four big victories.

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Semi-final matches :

Brazil now face Uruguay in Maracaibo on Tuesday for a place in the Copa America final while Argentina will play Mexico.

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Copa America Results - Mexico stun Brazil

Football : Mexico and Chile grab vital wins

PUERTO ORDAZ, Venezuela, June 27, 2007
Mexico upset Brazil for the second straight time at a major tournament, beating the five-time world champions 2-0 Wednesday night in the first round of the Copa America.

Nery Castillo scored on a spectacular solo effort in the 23rd minute when he took a pass from Juan Carlos Cacho, flicked the ball over defender Maicon, collected it again and beat goalkeeper Doni.

Ramon Morales doubled the lead with a 25-yard free kick in the 29th that froze Doni so much that the goalkeeper didn't even attempt to stop it.

Mexican goalkeeper Guillermo Ochoa made a half-dozen excellent saves in the second half to keep a clean sheet for El Tri, including several stops on Robinho and a diving save on Afonso in the 62nd.

Robinho, who put the ball over the crossbar on a first-half bicycle kick, saw an angled shot pushed off the crossbar by Ochoa in the second half. Ochoa took over in goal from Oswaldo Sanchez, who has been Mexico's No. 1 keeper in recent years.

Group B : Brazil 0 Mexico 2
Scorers :
Mexico - Nery Castillo 23, Ramon Morales 29

Halftime: 0-2.

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In the opener of the Group B doubleheader, Chile rallied twice to beat Ecuador 3-2.

Carlos Villaneuva bent a free kick over a defensive wall and into the upper corner of the net for the winning goal in the 87th minute.

Ecuador, knocked out of last year's World Cup in the second round by England, got goals from Antonio Valencia in the 16th minute and Segundo Castillo in the 23rd. Humberto Suazo scored in the 21st and 80th minutes for Chile.

Group B : Chile 3 Ecuador 2
Scorers :
Chile - Humberto Suazo 21, 80, Carlos Villaneuva 87
Ecuador - Antonio Valencia 16, Segundo Castillo 23

Halftime: 1-2.

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Argentina start as Copa America favourites.

Argentina beginning the 2007 Copa America as favourites to win the event which starts on Tuesday 26th June.

The Argentines, who lost in a penalty shootout to great rivals Brazil in the 2004 tournament, are a best priced 2.60 at VC Bet to regain the trophy.

Holders Brazil, who have won three of the last four Copa Americas, are general second favourites at 3.00 while Mexico who looked out of sorts at the CONCACAF Gold Cup are 11.00 third best at SportingOdds.

Uruguay are priced at 13.00 at Betfred for an upset while hosts Venezuela are a longshot at 21.00 at Bet365.

If you fancy picking the top scorer then the favourite is Argentina's Hernan Crespo who is 7.00 at bet365 while West Ham striker Carlos Tevez is 11.00 at bet365 and ex-Man United man Diego Forlan is 13.00 at bet365

RELATED LINK :
A Copa America preview from our insider at BetFred.
Betting Preview - 26 June 2007 - Peru v Uruguay

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1 Jun 2007 : England v Brazil at Wembley

David Beckham is set to cap his England comeback by starting in Friday's friendly against Brazil.

The former captain is set to play after Tottenham's Aaron Lennon withdrew from the squad because of a knee injury. Lennon was ruled out after twisting a knee during England B's 3-1 win against Albania last Friday. This means McClaren is ready to start with Real Madrid midfielder Beckham against the Brazilians.

Beckham has not played for England since he came off injured in the World Cup quarter-final defeat at the hands of Portugal last July, after which he announced his resignation as captain.

Defensive duo Rio Ferdinand and Michael Dawson have been forced to pull out of the England squad to face Brazil and Estonia because of groin injuries. Liverpool's Jamie Carragher could come in for Friday's friendly against Brazil at the new Wembley Stadium and the Euro 2008 qualifier in Estonia on 6 June.

Ferdinand and Dawson's absence leaves England manager Steve McClaren with a defensive headache. Gary Neville, Ashley Cole, Jonathan Woodgate and Micah Richards have already been ruled out, meaning McClaren is now without three of his four first-choice defenders.

Cole's back-up at left-back Wayne Bridge is also a major doubt for the game against Brazil, with Reading's Nicky Shorey standing by for his first full cap. Carragher and Ledley King will compete for the right to partner skipper John Terry in defence and, if Carragher is chosen, Phil Neville is almost certain to come in at right-back.

For a betting preview of the game - check out the England v Brazil page on the main site.

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David Beckham back in for England v Brazil

BECKHAM BACK FOR ENGLAND

Steve McClaren has denied being panicked into handing David Beckham an England recall, revealing he would have brought the former captain back two months ago had it not been for an untimely knee injury.

McClaren named Beckham in his 26-man squad for next week's friendly against Brazil and the crucial Euro 2008 qualifier in Estonia five days later. Although the decision had been widely expected, it has still come as something of a shock given McClaren's very public axing of the 32-year-old immediately after he succeeded Sven-Goran Eriksson as coach.

McClaren has admitted he made the decision to resurrect Beckham's international career after the friendly defeat to Spain at Old Trafford in February.

"It is not a panic measure, we have thought about it long and hard," said McClaren. "After the Spain game, we looked at the situation and re-assessed where we were because that get-together and game were such a big disappointment.

"We were looking at the possibility of changing things around, so David came into our thinking and reckoning then. We were monitoring his progress and he was under consideration for the Israel game but unfortunately, he got injured." McClaren continued.

The former Manchester United stars place in the starting line-ups against Brazil and Estonia is now virtually certain, even if the coach is unrepentant about the original decision to drop him.

A number of alternatives to replacing Beckham on the right have been looked at, including Steven Gerrard and Aaron Lennon, who is almost certain to withdraw from McClaren's squad with the knee injury he sustained against Albania on Friday, but none have come close to filling the void.

Beckham is joined in the squad by uncapped youngster David Bentley, as well as Reading left-back Nicky Shorey. Wayne Rooney's absence just makes it all the more of a relief for McClaren that Michael Owen is getting back to full fitness again after finally recovering from the cruciate ligament injury he suffered at the World Cup.

And, with Alan Smith available for the first time during his reign and Joe Cole for only the second, McClaren feels there is a freshness about his squad that can trigger an immediate upturn in fortune.

England Squad : Robinson (Tottenham), Carson (Liverpool), Green (West Ham), P Neville (Everton), R Ferdinand (Man Utd), Terry (Chelsea), Bridge (Chelsea), Brown (Man Utd), Carragher (Liverpool), Dawson (Tottenham), King (Tottenham), Shorey (Reading), Beckham (Real Madrid), Gerrard (Liverpool), Jenas (Tottenham), J Cole (Chelsea), Lennon (Tottenham), Bentley (Blackburn), Carrick (Man Utd), Lampard (Chelsea), Downing (Middlesbrough), Dyer (Newcastle), Crouch (Liverpool), Owen (Newcastle), Smith (Man Utd), Defoe (Tottenham).

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