Venezuela won Peru 5-1 and allowed Uruguay, who defeated Ecuador 22-1, to finish second in Pool B, determined by their goal difference with host Peru.
Both teams, at the bench of the “Llaneros” (Venezuelans) and the Uruguayans in the locker room, celebrated Venezuela’s 5-1 win over Peru. This victory led Venezuela and Uruguay to the semifinals of the Pan American Challenge, joining Brazil and Guyana in the struggle to earn a spot in the great final of the tournament, held in Chiclayo, north of Lima.
Thus, Venezuela will face Guyana, second place of Pool A, and Uruguay will play with Brazil. Both winners will meet on Sunday October 11th in the great final at 3:45 PM (local time).
Today, Venezuela did their job in the morning against Peru. They came to the pitch holding the steadiness shown since the beginning of the tournament, with great tactical discipline, reflected in the dominance of the scoreboard, facing a team feeling pressured pursuing a draw that could have given them the chance for the round of medals.
Yordano Castro opened the scoreboard for the Venezuelans in the first minute of the match. Peru equalized at the end of the first quarter with Fernando López, who pushed the ball to the net. Since that moment, the Venezuelan attack was lethal. Andy Adrián took advantage of the open spaces left by Peru, who was focused pressuring on attack, converting three goals in minute 29, 32 and 60, while Cristian Vargas scored in minute 52.
“We knew that winning was enough to be in the final. We’re upset for not being able to cruise to the semifinals because of goal difference, but this is what the game is about. Anyway, we still have two matches to play, and we aim to do well and win to finish in the highest possible position in the tournament,” said Sebastián Dennison, Peruvian forward.
Peru will face Panama on Friday. With a victory, they will play with the winner of the match played by Puerto Rico and Ecuador, to decide the fourth and fifth place.
URUGUAY THRASHED ECUADOR
Earlier, Uruguay scored the biggest win of the tournament defeating Ecuador 22-1. The Ecuadorians opened the scoreboard with Harold Soria in minute 2. Since that moment, the match developed on one side of the pitch, with Uruguay completely focused in attack, knowing that the goal difference was the key, especially after Peru’s 11-0 victory over Ecuador the day before.
Ignacio Costas scored five goals, Alexis López, Lucas Cantaro y Federico Iglesias scored three goals each, Agustín Rivero, Gabriel López two each, while the rest were scored by Matías Vasquez, Juan Manuel Canessa, Joaquín Rodríguez and Diego Romano.
Uruguay finished the qualification phase with 4 points like Peru, but with a goal difference of +18 goals, 11 goals more than the Peruvians.
SEMIFINALS ON FRIDAY
The matches for Friday were defined in the morning today. To define places from 5th to 8th, the matches are scheduled: 8:30 Puerto Rico vs Ecuador and 10:45 Peru vs Panama.
