Uruguay bashes host Venezuela, Brazil routs Chile in Copa America

Jul 8, 2007 - 5:52 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."

Brazil produced their best performance of the Copa America so far as Robinho provided the inspiration behind a 6-1 quarterfinal drubbing of Chile.

The 23-year-old scored his fifth and sixth goals of the tournament as Nelson Acosta's men were swept away by a first-half salvo.

"We never had the chance to carry it out as Brazil scored three in less than half an hour, and after that, we could not react," Acosta said. "With the introduction of Valdivia and Fernandez, we had slightly more opportunities, but it was too late."

"The team is improving every game and we expect to reach our peak in the final stages," Robinho said.

Brazil took the lead after 14 minutes, when Bayer Leverkusen defender Juan took advantage of a static Chilean defense to head home Maicon's corner.

Six minutes later, Maicon won the ballin the midfield and fed Vagner Love, whoin turn found Julio Batista, and the forward made no mistake from inside the box.

Robinho then made it 3-0 after some good individual work resulted in a measured finish from the edge of area.

Liverpool midfielder Mark Gonzalez hit the bar, but that was the closest an ineffective Chilean squad came to getting back into the game before halftime.

It was much the same after the break once Doni had kept out another Gonzalez effort.

Robinho grabbed his second of the game atn 51 minutes as the Real Madrid forward applied the finish to Gilberto Silva's cross after the Chilean defense had once again gone missing.

It was 5-0 after 68 minutes when Chile goalkeeper Claudio Bravo parried Afonso's shot butwas powerless to stop Josue from converting the rebound.

"When we tried to get back into the game, we left space and Brazil did not waste it," Chile defender Alvaro Ormeno said. "They never fail to take advantage of that kind of space. We were too generous."

Chile did bag a consolation goal eight minutes later, when striker Humberto Suazo cleverly lobbed the ball over. But Love completed the rout right at the death after good approach work from Elano.

"I've been trying to score since the first game against Mexico, and I've done it at last," Love said. "I didn't feel under pressure to score, although I felt relieved after doing it."

"After his goal today, Vagner Love is going to be much more relaxed," Robinho said. "He deserves it. He played very well during the group stage, he did a lot for the team. Now he has a personal reward."

Dunga's side now face Uruguay in Maracaibo on Tuesday for a place in the Copa America final.