Both teams reach the great final of the Pan American Challenge, scheduled tomorrow, with similar numbers. Brazil and Venezuela obtained three wins and one draw so far, and they both have a similar number of scored goals. However, taking into account that they will play the final tomorrow, these numbers are only useful for statistics.
When the teams walk into the pitch at the Campo San José in Chiclayo (Northern Peru) tomorrow, they will both aim to achieve the gold medal of the tournament organized by PAHF together with the Peruvian Hockey Federation.
Brazil is finalist after the 18-0 victory over Panama, 5-1 win against Puerto Rico and a 2-2 draw against Guyana in the pool phase. Once in the semifinals, they defeated Uruguay 4-0. Brazil has 29 scored goals and only three against, these results puts in evidence the good defense play and performance of goal keeper Rodrigo Faustino.
Venezuela earned the right to the final after a dramatic 5-4 penalty shoot out against Guyana that followed the tie in regulation (3-3). In the pool phase, they defeated Ecuador 20-0, Uruguay 3-0 and Peru 5-1. They have 31 scored goals, and have the best scorer of the tournament, Cristian Vargas with 11 scored goals (five field goals and the rest through executed penalty corner.)
BRONZE MEDAL
Tomorrow at 9 AM, Uruguay and Guyana will meet in the bronze medal match. The Uruguayans are disappointed because they could not reach the final. “We came to the tournament to fight for the gold medal, but we couldn’t achieve it. Still, we want the bronze medal to bring it home and make our people feel proud of us”, said Gonzalo Martinioni.
PERU: 5th PLACE
On this Saturday sports day, the second to last of the tournament, the places from 5th to 8th of the Pan American Challenge were defined. Peru finished in fifth place after beating Puerto Rico in a thrilling shoot out, where Felix Mafferetti had an outstanding performance, saving three times.
The match finished in a tie in regulation time. Host Peru, opened the scoreboard in minute 20 with Sebastian Dennison’s goal, but Puerto Rico equalized seven minutes later with Ottus Feliciano’s goal .
Panama finished in 7th place, and obtained one of the first victories of an international tournament, beating Ecuador 2-1. The scorers were: Ecuadorian Hugo Vásquez, in minute 9, later Panamanian Manuel Correa and Angelo Boodie in minute 21 and 34 respectively.
