Penalty Kicks Suit Uruguay
Soccer fans in general might dislike the concept, but those from Uruguay are beginning to feel a bit more kindly about penalty kicks as a way of deciding tied games.
Tuesday night, Uruguay used penalty kicks to knock Chile out of the Copa America tournament in Asuncion, Paraguay. The semifinal ended in a 1-1 tie after regulation, but Uruguay advanced, 5-3, in the shootout.
No overtime is played in the tournament.
On Saturday, Uruguay advanced from the quarterfinals the same way, holding Paraguay to a 1-1 tie in front of 45,000 at the Defenders of the Chaco stadium in Asuncion, then winning on penalty kicks by the same 5-3 score.
Tuesday night’s game, watched by 8,000, was by far the poorest of the tournament.
Alejandro Lembo gave Uruguay the lead in the 23rd minute when he headed in a corner kick by Walter Coelho.
Chile had a chance to tie only three minutes later, but wasted two opportunities. First, Jose Luis Sierra slammed a 25-yard free kick against the crossbar. Then there was a tussle in the goalmouth for the rebound and Chilean World Cup ’98 star Marcelo Salas was fouled. The referee awarded Chile a penalty kick but Salas struck this one against the crossbar too.
Chile’s equalizer in the 63rd minute began with a Sierra free kick that floated into the penalty area and Ivan Zamorano took advantage of a rare lapse in concentration by Uruguay to head in the goal from an unmarked position to make it 1-1.
The winner of tonight’s semifinal between Brazil and Mexico will play Uruguay.
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U.S. men’s national team Coach Bruce Arena today will name the 20 players he will take to Mexico on Sunday to compete in the FIFA Confederations Cup in Guadalajara and Mexico City.
The U.S., which defeated Derby County of the English Premier League, 2-1, on Tuesday night in Denver, will play New Zealand, Germany and Brazil in the first round of the July 24-Aug. 4 tournament.
Tuesday’s come-from-behind victory in front of 20,376 at Mile High Stadium was sparked by former UCLA winger Eddie Lewis, who scored the tying goal in the 64th minute and assisted on Ben Olsen’s game-winner 12 minutes later.
