Chile musnahkan impian Argentina

EAST RUTHERFORD, New Jersey – Juara bertahan, Chile terus melakar sejarah apabila meranapkan impian Argentina untuk memenangi gelaran juara Copa America Centenario selepas tewas buat kali kedua berturut-turut menerusi sepakan penalti 4-2 di Stadium Metlife pagi semalam.

Keputusan tersebut mengulangi pertembungan final Copa America tahun lalu apabila Chile menjuarai perlawanan tersebut menerusi penentuan penalti selepas perlawanan terikat tanpa jaringan ketika menentang Argentina.

Dalam saingan tersebut, perlawanan terpaksa ditamatkan dengan detik mengecewakan buat kapten Argentina, Lionel Messi apabila gagal menyempurnakan sepakan penalti selepas sekadar melepasi palang sebelum Lucas Biglia turut gagal menyudahkan sepakan tersebut dengan baik apabila ditangkap kemas penjaga gol Chile, Claudio Bravo.

Ini merupakan kekalahan ketiga buat Argentina di pentas final dalam tempoh tiga tahun termasuk tewas kepada Jerman dalam Piala Dunia 2014.

Kekalahan ini sekali gus meneruskan kemarau buat Argentina yang gagal menjulang sebarang kejuaraan melebihi 23 tahun.

  

“Kemenangan yang dirangkul ini tidak boleh diungkapkan dengan kata-kata dan saya hanya mahu mengucapkan terima kasih kepada semua penyokong yang tidak henti-henti memberikan sokongan kepada kami.

“Ia bukan satu perlawanan yang mudah kerana kami beraksi menentang Argentina yang sudah pasti antara pasukan terhebat di dunia. Kami adalah generasi yang mencipta sejarah menjulang kejuaraan ini. Ini adalah detik sejarah buat saya,” ujar penyerang Chile, Alexis Sanchez.

Dalam saingan tersebut, Chile terpaksa beraksi dengan 10 pemain selepas Diaz menerima kad kuning kedua apabila didapati menghalang gerakan Messi pada minit ke-28.

Bagaimanapun, Argentina gagal menggunakan peluang tersebut dengan baik selepas mereka turut mengalami masalah yang sama apabila Marcos Rojo dilayangkan kad merah pada minit ke-43 selepas melakukan terjahan keras terhadap Arturo Vidal.

Pada penentuan sepakan penalti, Vidal gagal meledak gol pertama buat Chile selepas Sergio Romero bijak menyelamatkan sepakan tersebut. Akhirnya, Francesco Silva menamatkan penantian apabila menjaringkan gol kemenangan buat Chile.

Sanchez muncul pemain terbaik kejohanan setelah membawa pasukannya menjuarai Copa America edisi ke-100 tahun tersebut, manakala Eduardo Vargas muncul pemenang kasut emas selepas meledak enam gol sepanjang kejohanan, empat gol yang dihasilkan adalah ketika membenam Mexico 4-0. – AGENSI

Colombia beats U.S. for Copa third place

Klinsmann hails 'wonderful' U.S. display

Colombia claimed third place in the Copa America Centenario by beating the United States 1-0 in Glendale, Arizona, on Saturday night.

Carlos Bacca scored in the first half as Colombia beat the U.S. for the second time in the tournament following a 2-0 win the opening game.

This is the highest finish for Colombia since 2001

Argentina tunjuk taring dgn blasah Usa 4-0

Lionel Messi and Argentina played like the best player and team in the world, leaving the Jurgen Klinsmann's side looking over-matched in Houston.

HOUSTON — It was always going to take a perfect performance by the U.S. national team and a shaky one by Argentina for the Americans to pull off the Copa America semifinal upset on Tuesday night.

What we saw instead as Argentina at its captivating best and the U.S. at its over-matched worst, resulting in a dominating rout that was even more lopsided than the 4-0 final scoresuggested.

The Americans simply weren't ready, and as much as Jurgen Klinsmann can carry some blame with his lineup choices, the reality is many first-choice players simply didn't come to play.

Chris Wondolowski's inclusion in the starting lineup was a shocker, given the fact he had played just 18 minutes all tournament and the fact he hasn't seen much time with the national team in recent years. That didn't stop Klinsmann for giving the 2014 World Cup scapegoat a shot at redemption.

Redemption never came. Instead, Wondolowski looked terribly over-matched. Rather than finding the goal to write the perfect story to bookend his miss against Belgium, Wondolowski turned the ball over and eventually committed the foul that Lionel Messi turned into a masterful free-kick goal.

Tuesday's loss wasn't about Wondolowski starting or about Christian Pulisic or Darlington Nagbe not starting. In the end, it was about one supremely talented team thoroughly outclassing a lesser-talented team that didn't even play to its potential. As bad as Wondolowski was, it was the poor showings of other regular starters that made the match even more lopsided than it needed to be.

You can start with Michael Bradley, who endured one of his worst showings in a big U.S. match in his career. He apeared skittish and unsure at times, turning the ball over far too frequently, looking nothing like the dominant force we saw shine for the U.S. as recently as a year ago. On a night when the U.S. needed its best players to play their best and set the tone, Bradley simply wasn't up to the task.

Bradley was far from alone in disappointing. Goalkeeper Brad Guzan was shaky early on, as was DeAndre Yedlin. Even Fabian Johnson struggled to deal with Argentina's attacking waves, though many times it was the poor play of his teammates that left him in bad spots.

Klinsmann will take his place at the top of those to blame for Tuesday's bloodbath. He talked of wanting to attack Argentina, but set out a lineup that wasn't one that ever looked capable of really attacking Argentina. He basically aknowledged his mistake at halftime, when he brought in Pulisic for Wondolowski, who probably played his last national team match on Tuesday.

There were very few bright spots for the Americans, as Argentina so thoroughly outclassed them that the U.S. saw little of the ball and rarely put together any truly threatening chances of their own.

One bright spot for the Americans was Gyasi Zardes, who played with no fear and went after Argentina, making plays and never backing down. He played with the fearlessness that Klinsmann talked about his team needing if it was going to beat a team like Argentina.

Unfortunately for the U.S., there simply weren't enough American players who showed up on Tuesday truly ready to play with no fear, to play with confidence and to try to go at Argentina.

Instead, the U.S. looked nervous and overwhelmed, and as much as many will want to blame Klinsmann for it happening, no lineup he would have used would have made the final outcome different. Sure, maybe a squad with Nagbe and Pulisic instead of Wondolowski and Graham Zusi may have made things a bit closer, but with so many American players failing to perform, Argentina was always going to leave NRG Stadium with a victory and ticket to the Copa America final.

There is no shame in losing to the best team in the world, but Klinsmann and his team need to do some soul-searching and accept that they didn't give their best on Tuesday, which is a much bigger crime than losing to a team like Argentina.

Copa America : Argentina & Chile berpesta gol! Apa dah jd ngan Mexico??

Eduardo Vargas' four goals set Chile up for a comfortable path into the Copa America semifinals.

Knockout round games have historically been unkind to El Tri, especially in the World Cup, but this match proved to be its own special kind of torture. It's one thing to lose, but quite another to be humiliated in front of a distinctly pro-Mexico crowd of 70,547 at Levi's Stadium. And manager Juan Carlos Osorio, who has a well-earned reputation for tinkering, left himself open to plenty of second-guessing for some of his lineup choices.

‘Lebih takut mati daripada dipecat’ -Dunga

FOXBOROUGH – Selepas diaibkan Peru dengan gol kontroversi, pengendali Brazil, Carlos Dunga (gambar) ternyata tidak takut dipecat daripada skuad kebangsaan selepas kecewa dengan kekalahan tidak terhormat daripada saingan Copa America Centenario 2016 kelmarin.

Dunga ternyata kecewa dengan keputusan pengadil yang mengesahkan gol Raul Ruidiaz pada minit ke-75 yang didakwa menggunakan tangan untuk mara ke suku akhir setelah menjuarai Kumpulan B.

Ini adalah tugas kedua Dunga bersama Brazil, selepas cemerlang bersama skuad samba apabila menjuarai Copa America 2007 dan Piala Konfede­rasi pada tahun 2009 serta pernah menjulang Piala Dunia sebagai kapten pada tahun 1994.

Jelas ini adalah tekanan buat Brazil dalam persediaan mereka untuk menghadapi Sukan Olimpik Rio de Janeiro sekali gus mahu menjelmakan keme­nangan di laman sendiri selepas gagal menjuarai Piala Dunia 2014.

“Saya tidak takut dipecat tetapi apa yang saya takutkan adalah kematian. Pihak pengurusan tahu apa yang kami lakukan dan cara kami bekerja.

“Bila kamu bekerja bersama skuad Brazil kami tahu akan dikenakan pelbagai kritikan jika gagal menjelmakan sebarang keputusan yang baik.

“Di Brazil kami mahu mendapat keputusan yang singkat tetapi dalam bola sepak adalah satu perkara yang rumit dan kita perlu sabar untuk mendapat keputusan terbaik,” ujar Dunga.

Difahamkan Dunga akan mengadakan pertemuan dengan Presiden Konfederasi Bola Sepak Brazil (CBF), Marco Polo Del Nero untuk menentukan nasibnya bersama skuad Brazil. – Agensi.

Copa América : USA 1-0 Paraguay

Clint Dempsey’s first-half goal gives 10-man USA victory – and they move into the quarter-finals

Congratulations to USA, and to Jürgen Klinsmann, who’s copped a lot of criticism. They deserved it tonight – they were better than Paraguay. A slight blip with the Yedlin red card, but Paraguay never made their extra man count.

This is the first time the #USMNT has qualified for the #CopaAmerica Quarterfinals since 1995

Hat-trick hero Messi happy to be back

Argentina captain Lionel Messi returned from a back injury to score three goals in 30 minutes against Panama in Group D on Friday.

Lionel Messi was very happy to make his return from injury with a second-half hat trick, though the Argentina captain was quick to praise his teammates as they advanced to the Copa America Centenario quarterfinals.

After sitting out as an unused substituted in Argentina's opening win over the defending champion last week due to a niggling back problem, Messi made a breathtaking return to the pitch, scoring three goals in 30 minutes to inspire Friday's 5-0 rout of 10-man Panama in Chicago.

The 28-year-old skipper, whose hat trick was highlighted by a stunning 78th-minute free kick now has 53 internationals goals to his name, closing to within three of Argentina's all-time record.

Speaking after the Group D encounter at Soldier Field, man-of-the-match Messi said: "I am grateful for all this support. It was great to be here, especially because of the public. I am very grateful.

"I lost the pain gradually. Then, I managed to make my first goal. It was a team effort, in a tense game, with very tall grass, dry. It was tricky, but we got where we wanted."

Argentina has two wins from as many matches as the 14-time Copa America champion looks to end the 23-year wait for a major title, following the penalty shootout loss to Chile in last year's tournament.

Messi, who scored within eight minutes of introduction in the 68th minute, continued: "We are doing a good job, growing little by little. By winning the first two games, it is very good."

Chile tops Bolivia on controversial last-gasp penalty kick

Chile and Bolivia's Copa America Group C battle devolved in to chaos Friday night, with Arturo Vidal's 100th-minute penalty after a controversial call the decisive strike in a 2-1 win for La Roja.

Vidal scored twice, sandwiching a remarkable free-kick strike from Bolivia's Jhasmani Campos to account for the scoring. The latter stages of the match also saw Bolivia's Ronald Eguino take a bicycle kick directly to the head from Eduardo Vargas. It appeared that Eguino was knocked out, perhaps even before he crashed into the ground, yet Bolivia sent him back into the match moments later.

The game, which was controlled by Chile, went into halftime at 0-0, but it didn't take long for action to pick up. Chile took the lead through Vidal in the 46th minute with him working a combination with Mauricio Pinilla before finishing from the center of the box.

Bolivia answered soon after, and in spectacular fashion. Campos, just into the game in the 58th minute, bent a phenomenal free kick from distance by Claudio Bravo and into the upper left-hand corner of the next to equalize in the 61st.

Chaos ensued after Luis Gutierrez was whistled for a handball deep into stoppage time. It appeared that the assistant referee was the one who made the call, but it also appeared that Gutierrez had tucked his arm behind his back and the ball hit off his shoulder. No matter, Vidal stepped up and converted the penalty to secure the three points for Chile.

Copa America 2016: Uruguay 0-1 Venezuela

• Salomon Rondon scored the only goal to virtually knock Uruguay out
• Luis Suarez warmed up before the game and took his place on the bench
• But the Barcelona striker had not been named among Uruguay's subs
• Suarez slammed the dugout after talking to his manager Oscar Tabarez
• Venezuela have now qualified for the Copa America quarter-finals

The Barcelona star looks dejected after realising he would not be coming off the bench against Venezuela

Luis Suarez slammed his fist into the perspex wall of Uruguay's substitutes bench in a fit of rage. He wasn't playing in the shock defeat by Venezuela that knocked his team out of the Copa America Centenario but, of course, it was all about him.

Salomon Rondon's first-half goal did the damage and as Uruguay fought to salvage the game and their tournament, Suarez prepared himself for action, determined to be their saviour.

The striker taped his ankles and warmed up, with Uruguay's fans roaring him on, but when coach Oscar Tabarez started making substitutions, Suarez's No 9 was not called

Edinson Cavani (right) fails to convert a chance during another difficult night for Uruguay at the Copa America

The West Brom striker reacted quickest to score and send Venezuela into the quarter-finals of the tournament

First came Diego Rolan, then Nicolas Lodeiro and finally Matias Corujo, with Suarez becoming increasingly agitated on the bench. After all three substitutions were made, the striker ripped off his bib, stalked over to his coach to shout at him and hit out at the bench.

But Suarez was unavailable to play the whole time. Listed as injured and not on the official teamsheet as a substitute, there was no chance he could have been brought on to help his side.

At first it seemed he was warming up to get the fans going, to try and put Venezuela at a psychological disadvantage, with defenders perhaps wondering if he was going to come on or why he was even out there warming up at all. 

However, his reaction afterwards seemed to imply that he genuinely thought there was a chance he could make a difference.

Tabarez said after the game: 'Suarez is not ready to play yet, that's a matter for the doctors. However much he might get annoyed - and he didn't tell me anything - I'm not going to play a player who is not 100 per cent.'

Angel Di Maria sambut kemenangan dalam duka

SANTA CLARA 7 Jun – Pada hari neneknya meninggal dunia di kampung halamannya, ibu Angel Di Maria mendesak pemain itu agar terus bersama pasukan dan memberikan fokus kepada tanggungjawabnya mewakili negara dalam kejohanan Copa America. 

PEMAIN tengah Argentina, Ever Banega (tengah) meraikan jaringannya bersama Angel Di Maria (kiri) dan Gonzalo Higuain ketika menentang Chile dalam perlawanan Kumpulan D, Copa America di Stadium Levi, Santa Clara, Amerika Syarikat semalam. USA TODAY Sports 

Di Maria menjaringkan gol pada minit ke-51 setelah menerima hantaran daripada Ever Banega, dan selepas itu dia pula menjadi perancang kepada gol Banega pada minit ke-59.

Pilihan utama Argentina mempamerkan permainan mantap sekali pun terpaksa beraksi tanpa kelibat kapten Lionel Messi, yang ditimpa kecederaan, sewaktu menumpaskan Chile 2-1 dalam perlawanan pembukaan Copa America awal pagi ini.

Sebaik sahaja selepas menjaringkan gol, Di Maria menyingkap jersinya dan memaparkan kemeja T yang tertera ayat “Nenek, saya sangat rindukan nenek.”

“Amat sukar berada jauh dari tanahair apabila perkara sebegini berlaku. Ibu meminta saya untuk kekal di sini bersama pasukan dan memenangi perlawanan,” kata Di Maria yang mengalirkan air mata ketika ditemu bual selepas perlawanan.

Jose Pedro Fuenzalida menjaringkan gol tunggal Chile pada minit ke-93. Sebanyak lima kad kuning dilayangkan dalam perlawanan tersebut yang diibarat seperti pertemuan ulangan final Copa America pada tahun lalu yang berkesudahan La Roja meraih kemenangan menerusi sepakan penalti penentuan.

Kad kuning dilayangkan kepada Di Maria dan Gary Medel pada minit ke-65, setelah kedua-dua pemain itu bertelingkah.

Kali terakhir Argentina menewaskan Chile 2-1 ialah dalam kelayakan Piala Dunia di Santiago 24 Mac lalu. – AP