Chile win sparks Copa to life
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Shanghai Daily, July 6, 2011
The Copa America got a boost from Chile as it rallied to beat Mexico 2-1 on Monday, showing the best attacking football so far in a tournament which has lacked goals and entertaining performances.
Esteban Paredes and Arturo Vidal scored second-half goals for Chile, whose top scoring threats, Humberto Suazo and Alexis Sanchez, failed to break through but looked as dangerous as any players in the tournament being held in Argentina.
In Monday's other Group C match, Luis Suarez scored in first-half stoppage time as Uruguay rallied for a 1-1 draw against Peru.
Chile and Uruguay meet on Friday in one of the best match-ups of the tournament.
Chile reached the second round in last year's World Cup - its best performance since 1962 - and Uruguay was the surprise semifinalist led by the tournament's top player, Diego Forlan.
All 12 teams have now played one match in the South American championship. Co-favorite Argentina managed only a struggling 1-1 draw with Bolivia, and Brazil was worse in a 0-0 draw with Venezuela.
"It's very even because there are good teams and great players," Forlan said.
As good as Chile was, Mexico almost pulled off a stunning upset. Nestor Araujo gave Mexico a 1-0 lead with a header in the 41st minute, a goal that came after Chile had dominated possession.
Mexico is playing with an understrength team, mainly youth players who were absent from the Mexico squad that defeated the United States 4-2 last month to win the Gold Cup in California.
Because it plays in the CONCACAF region, Mexico can only play in the South America tournament as a guest. It's fielding a youth team missing stars like Manchester's Javier Hernandez. Mexico was further weakened when eight players were kicked off the team for violating training rules after a friendly match last month in Ecuador.
"I think Chile is going to go a long way in this Copa America," Mexico coach Luis Fernando Tena said. "This is the group stage, and from what I have seen of the 12 teams, I think Chile has played the best."
Argentina faces Colombia tomorrow in the day's only game. Anything less than a lopsided victory and goals from Barcelona star Lionel Messi will turn up the heat on Argentina coach Sergio Batista, who took over from Diego Maradona following the World Cup.
Julio Grondona, president of the Argentina Football Association, has already placed the blame. "Messi never plays badly," Grondona said. "Those who play badly are those around him."
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