The Hindu : Sport / Football : Paraguay upsets Brazil, tops group

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Friday, Jul 16, 2004

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Sport - Football

Paraguay upsets Brazil, tops group

AREQUIPA (PERU), JULY 15. Paraguay ended Brazil's 13-game unbeaten streak 2-1 and Costa Rica overcame Chile 2-1 in injury time to grab the last quarterfinal berth at the Copa America on Wednesday.

Brazil's defeat sent it from Peru's deep south to the far north for a weekend quarterfinal against Mexico, the previous team to beat Brazil — effectively its under-23 side — in the Gold Cup final in July last year.

Paraguay won Group `C' and will meet Uruguay, which ended up being the best third-placed team.

``I'm very proud, we beat a first-class team,'' Paraguay coach Carlos Jara Saguier said. ``Now comes the hard part, but we intend to bring the Copa home.''

Costa Rica advanced as the second-best third-placed team and into a playoff against defending champion Colombia. Andy Herron's goal three minutes into second-half injury time at Tacna eliminated Chile and Bolivia, the Group `A' side which would have qualified if the score had remained 1-1.

Peru and Argentina meet in the other quarterfinal.

Paraguay striker Fredy Bareiro ended a 1-1 deadlock with Brazil in the 71st minute, beating defender Luisao and shooting past Brazil goalkeeper Julio Cesar.

``This loss should be a warning to us,'' Brazil coach Carlos Alberto Parreira said. ``In the playoffs we won't be able to make these mistakes.

``Luckily, this loss doesn't set us back in our plans to reach the final, it came in a good moment.''

Striker Julio Gonzalez put Paraguay ahead with a header off a corner in the 29th, and Luis Fabiano equalised with a hard right-footer from inside the box in the 35th.

He chested the ball away from a defender before shooting high into the net, giving no chance to Paraguay 'keeper Diego Barreto.

``Unfortunately we let this one slip by,'' Fabiano said. ``Now we need to correct our mistakes and get ready to face Mexico.''

Paraguay played a man short from the 74th as defender Emilio Martinez was sent off for a foul on Brazil defender Gustavo Nery.

Late goals haunt Chile

Just when the match between Chile and Costa Rica appeared set to end in a draw, Andy Herron came out of seemingly nowhere and blasted the game-winner from the right past Chile 'keeper Alex Varas.

Chile captain Rafael Olarra had shouldered the ball into the goal in the 40th, and Mauricio Wright tapped in for the tying score in the 59th.

``Chile controlled the game in the first half, but we were the ones who were able to define the game,'' said Costa Rica coach Jorge Luis Pinto. ``We had a demolishing counterattack.''

Chile will surely depart the Copa crestfallen, having conceded late goals in all three of its group matches. It lost to Brazil 1-0 in the last minute, yielded a late 1-1 equaliser to Paraguay, and watched Herron drive a dagger shot into its goal and hearts, despite knowing a draw would knock them out.

``Our biggest problem was that we failed to close out games,'' said Chile coach Juvenal Olmos.

Busy Chile midfielder Rodrigo Valenzuela, who drew three yellow cards from Costa Rica players, attracted the first two in quick succession when he was fouled by Cristian Badilla and Leonardo Gonzalez. The second one led to the free kick from which Olarra scored.

Olarra was in the right place at the right time. Luis Jimenez's free kick glanced off the head of defender Badilla and in off Olarra's turning right shoulder.

It could have been 2-0 seven minutes after the break, but Jimenez's hard shot hit the underside of the crossbar and bounced out.

Pinto, appointed as Costa Rica coach only two weeks before the Copa, changed his line-up at halftime by fielding three forwards, in search of the win.

``I decided we had to go for it and the tactical change made all the difference,'' he said.

Costa Rica equalised just before the hour mark. Alonso Solis' free-kick rebounded to teammate Walter Centeno, whose blast from the right might have gone in if it wasn't accidentally trapped in the goalmouth by the long legs of Wright, who had an easy tap-in. — AP

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