Uruguay was able to recover on the last quarter of the match and achieved a valuable 3-3 draw against Peru during the opening of Pool B at the Pan American Challenge, held in Chiclayo, Peru and organized by PAHF.
Uruguay and Peru battled an intense match, where Peru surprised with a balanced game in all lines, and with a well executed penalty corner by Rodrigo Diaz in the 5th minute, host Peru took the lead. Diego Laborde scored off a penalty stroke in the 30th minute thus the match remained Uruguay 1 Peru 1, going into the halftime break.
Peru was encouraged by a large crowd, who assisted early to the stands in Colegio San José. Motivated, Miguel Rivera scored in the 39th minute and later Rodrigo Diaz in the 51st minute scored again. The last quarter was dominated by Uruguay with high speed and more experienced players. Juan Manuel Canessa and Alexis López were both able to score in the 52nd and 53rd respectively.
"We're rather pleased with the result because we played better than them and we were winning. We had to face one of the favorites and played a good match. That means we’ve grown," said Fabrizio Corno, captain of the Peruvian team.
Patrick Draper, captain of the “Charrúas” (Uruguayans), highlighted the work of his team and the fact that they never gave up. "We came here to win, and that’s our goal. Peru played well, and took advantage of our mistakes, but we were able to recover at the right moment.”
VENEZUELA APPROVED AND SCORED
Later, Venezuela played at will and has the highest score of the Pan American Challenge so far, after a 20-0 victory against Ecuador. The “Llaneros” (Venezuelans) dominated the match and top Pool B of the Men’s competition. Christian Vargas became the main star of the match, and of the tournament, scoring 8 times during the match. The rest of the scorers were Adan Iaya with 3 goals, Wilber Bracamonte, Simón Rojas, Andy Adrián with two goals each, and Rendy Ochoa, Raudin Simanca y Javier Ramos with one goal each.
“It’s important to start the competition winning and with a high score, which will help us qualify for next phase”, explained Venezuelan captain, Wilber Bracamonte. Wilson Torres, his Ecuadorian counterpart, explained that his team is still building up, and despite the result, nothing will discourage them to carry on growing and developing in hockey.
THE TOURNAMENT WILL CARRY ON TOMORROW
Tomorrow, the tournament will carry on at Colegio San José, in Chiclayo. AT 9 AM Panama and Guyana will meet, pursuing their first victory while Brazil will seek their next victory against Puerto Rico at 11 AM.
