Uruguay bashes host Venezuela in Copa America

Jul 8, 2007 - 3:34 AM SAN CRISTOBAL, Venezuela (Ticker) -- Uruguay crushed Venezuela's Copa America dream as it marched into the semifinals with a 4-1 demolition of the hosts on Saturday.

Diego Forlan grabbed a brace, while Pablo Garcia and Cristian Rodriguez were also on target in the last eight encounter as Oscar Tabarez's men gatecrashed the party of 40,000 people packed into San Cristobal's Pueblo Nuevo stadium.

"We played really well," Forlan said. "Yes, I scored twice, but the whole team were the stars. We're happy because we finally showed what we are capable of."

The result came as even more of a surprise given the fact the two sides had played out a goalless draw just four days earlier and Uruguay had scored only one goal in finishing third in Group A.

"We were very threatening at the start but could not score goals," Tabarez said. "We spoke during the interval about how a better final ball would resolve this. I believe that, as the result shows, we won well. We beat none other than the hosts, and that's no mean feat."

The 'Celestes'dominated much of the first half and created several chances. Pablo Garciawas first to test goalkeeper Ronnie Vega with a long-range effort before Maximiliano Pereiradrew a good save from the Venezuelan stopper.

The hosts then threatened through Ricardo Paez, but the midfielder's attempt went straight into the hands of Fabian Carini before striker Juan Arangosent a header narrowly wide.

However, Forlan opened the scoring after 37 minutes, when he was picked out by Diego Garcia in the box and beat Vega with a powerful strike.

But Venezuela hit back almost immediately as, three minutes later, Mallorca star Arango found the back of the net with a superb free kick to send the sides in level at the break.

Carini was then forced to produce a good stop to deny Arango just 30 seconds after halftime as Venezuela started on the front foot before Uruguay re-established control.

And it regained the lead at 65 minutes, when some superb interplay between Pablo Garcia and Alvaro Recoba ended with the former producing a precise finish that nestled into the bottom right corner of the net.

Venezuela tried to find a response but was unable to threaten its opponent's goal before Tabarez's side extinguished its hopes in the final four minutes.

"It is really a shame," Paez said. "There is no doubt the best team won, but the result did not reflect what happened on the pitch. We felt the team had more to give and could go further in the tournament. What please me is that the group are very united and mentally prepared for qualifying for the 2010 World Cup."

A swift counterattack saw Rodriguez claim Uruguay's third goal. Forlan added insult to injury in stoppage time as the Atletico Madrid pounced on a loose ball to make it 4-1.

Uruguay will next face the winner of the quarterfinal clash between Brazil and Chile for a place in the final.

"If we are focused, we can be competitive," Uruguay defender Diego Lugano said. "We showed that we have a lot of determination and concentration."