An Alvaro Pareira 14 minutes strike help Uruguay beat Mexico in their last group game of the Copa America 2011 on Tuesday, to set up a Quarter Final clash against arch rival Argentina.
Pouncing on a deflection off a Diego Forlan shot, Pareira took advantage of the loose ball and bury it into the net from close range. With this win, Uruguay leaps past Peru, who lost to chile for the second place and set up a Quarter Final clash against Argentina in Santa Fe on Saturday.
Mexico, fielding a second string team makes an early exit from the competition without a point albeit losing all their three matches by one goal margin. Peru however still manages to make it through to the Quarter Finals but who they face will be determined after tonight’s Group B clash between Brazil-Ecudor and Paraguay-Venezuela.
Oscar Tabarez side started the proceedings on a positive note and attacked right from the word go to keep their Copa title ambitions alive. Their hard work paid off in the 14th minute with Alvaro Pareira’s goal.
Although Uruguay dominated much of the match, they could not add on to their lead albeit close chances. Forlan hit the inside of the right hand post with a low shot in the 30th minute and five minutes later his striking partner Luis Suarez forced a fine save from Luis Michel, who tipped the ball over his crossbar for a corner kick.
José Manuel de la Torre’s side, the Copa America invites mainly look to cause upset in the counter attacked through their striker Giovani Dos Santos. They looked to have found the equalizer in the 90th minute through Rafael Marquez which was rule out for offside.
With 14 Copa title each, Uruguay and Argentina are the most successful teams in the competition and they facing each other in as early as Quarter final would mean an elimination of one title contender.
The World’s football fraternity would be waiting to witness this classic clash comes the 16th of July. In India however, Neo Sports will broadcast the match live on 17th July 03:45 AM. Regional Bengali channel Kolkata TV will also telecast the match.