Uruguay and Paraguay have had an eventful Thursday night here in the Copa America with their latest victories over Bolivia and Chile respectively.
Both teams got their wins in somewhat similar fashion as they got one goal each from the first and second half to grab the valuable three points.
La Celeste got a huge break when Jairo Quinteros notched an own goal near the halftime break and then Edinson Cavani scored one late. Meanwhile, Miguel Almiron showed off his class by having a direct hand in La Albirroja’s two goals.
There is still one more round of games before we head into the quarterfinals, but all spots in Group A are already secured after last night’s action.
Argentina continues to lead the group with seven points, followed by Paraguay who have six. Chile are placed third with five, while Uruguay claimed the final berth with four points. Bolivia are eliminated since they have zero points.
The Copa America fever doesn’t stop here at SBOTOP as we dive deeper into the competition. So read on below for our latest serving of Copa America 2021 updates.
Bolivia 0-2 Uruguay
Uruguay weren’t exactly at their best form prior to this game and they really needed a performance like this to gather significant momentum while boosting their Copa America 2021 odds heading into the quarterfinals.
La Celeste may be the winningest country here in this tournament but they’ve hit a rough patch to start the competition, losing 1-0 to Argentina and drawing 1-1 to Chile before taking on Bolivia.
In what was a similar theme before, Uruguay laboured through the first half and they needed a stroke of luck to claim the advantage before heading into the break.
Oscar Tabarez’s men were more than happy to go ahead when Bolivia goalkeeper Carlos Lampe put through their own goal after a failed clearance from teammate Jairo Quinteros.
The presence of Edinson Cavani and Luis Suarez forced the Jairo Quinteros to take action when a low cross drifted into the penalty area. However, the Bolivian defender unfortunately knocked the ball onto the legs of his goalkeeper and into the back of the net.
Other than that mishap, Carlos Lampe expertly thwarted Uruguay’s chances from Luis Suarez and Edinson Cavani as he tried his best to give his country their first points of this tournament.
Uruguay were aiming to score another goal to finally secure their first win since beating Colombia in the World Cup 2022 qualifiers last November and they were able to get it through one of their old reliables in Edinson Cavani.
The 34-year-old striker, who recently signed a one-year extension with Manchester United, scored a beautiful finish following a looping cross from Facundo Torres with 11 minutes remaining. That was Cavani’s first goal for La Celeste since November 2020.
Maxi Gomez was brought in from the bench late and he tried to score their third goal during added time, but his shot went too wide in front of an open goal.
The result ended a five-game winless drought for Uruguay while booking their place in the quarterfinals. But more importantly, La Celeste can sleep well knowing that they are back on the winning track.
Chile 0-2 Paraguay
Paraguay finally got into the quarterfinals bus with their wire-to-wire victory over Chile yesterday at the Mane Garrincha Stadium.
La Albirroja took control of the match from the get-go, which culminated to a lovely finish by Braian Samudio after 33 minutes.
Miguel Almiron dished off a nice cross from the corner and the 25-year-old winger nodded the ball into the back of the net for his first international goal after four appearances.
Chile threatened to reclaim control when they looked more comfortable in the second half, but a clumsy challenge by Gary Medel awarded their rivals a big penalty call.
Almiron stepped up and converted the penalty kick to put his country up by two goals and they never looked back from there.
The Newcastle United winger’s creativity and pace were in full display in this game and he achieved a significant feat in the process.
He became the third player in this tournament to complete 10 successful dribbles, joining Lionel Messi and Neymar despite having played a game less than the two superstars.
With the quarterfinals berth sealed, Paraguay still have one more game to play.
They are set to lock horns versus Uruguay on Monday in a match that could decide which team will face the defending champions Brazil in the Copa America quarterfinals.
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