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June 29, 2015

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Argentine flavor in Copa semis as coaches face off

ONLY four teams are left in the Copa America and whichever lifts the trophy this weekend, one thing is guaranteed — the winning coach will be an Argentine.

With Brazil’s shock exit in the quarterfinals on Saturday, the semifinal lineup is complete. Host Chile will face Peru in Santiago tomorrow before favorite Argentina takes on Paraguay in the southern Chilean city of Concepcion on Wednesday.

All four teams have Argentine coaches. Chile is led by Jorge Sampaoli, Peru by Ricardo Gareca, Argentina by former Barcelona boss Gerardo Martino and Paraguay by Ramon Diaz.

“It’s a source of great happiness for the whole country that we not only have top-class players but also top-class coaches,” Diaz said after his side disposed of Brazil in a penalty shootout on Saturday.

Buoyed by a home crowd, Chile will be favorite to beat Peru but is still waiting to hear if its center back Gonzalo Jara will be cleared to play.

He is at the center of the now infamous incident after television images showed him sticking his finger up Edinson Cavani’s backside during Chile’s quarterfinal victory over Uruguay.

The South American football federation is reviewing the case and is expected to rule on it before the semifinal. The chances are that Jara will be banned for at least one match.

That would be a blow to Chile’s chances of containing Peru’s “fantastic four” — strikers Paolo Guerrero and Claudio Pizarro and attacking midfielders Jefferson Farfan and Juan Vargas.

They have turned an otherwise unremarkable team into a serious title contender and Guerrero in particular is in fine form having scored a hat-trick in its quarterfinal defeat of Bolivia.

Argentina looked good in its last match against Colombia but once again struggled to find the net, despite having attacking talents Lionel Messi, Sergio Aguero and Angel di Maria in its starting lineup.

In the end it was its reserve striker, Carlos Tevez, who eased it into the last four with the decisive penalty in a shootout.

Its opponent Paraguay is perhaps the most unlikely of the semifinalists, although it has already faced the three most successful sides in South American football history — Argentina, Brazil and Uruguay — and come through unbeaten.

Wednesday’s match will be a repeat of its group clash against Argentina, when it rallied from 0-2 down to earn a 2-2 draw.

Thirteen players go into the semis on yellow cards and if they are booked would miss the final. They include Messi, his Argentine teammate Javier Mascherano and Chile’s influential playmaker Jorge Valdivia.




 

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