Copa America 2011 Semifinals, Uruguay Vs. Peru: Preview

Copa America built a reputation as one of the world’s most entertaining tournaments over the past couple decades, but that hasn’t been the case with this year’s tournament. It’s been dull and it doesn’t figure to get much better with many of South America’s top teams eliminated. Gone are Argentina, Brazil, Chile and Colombia, leaving Uruguay as the favorites heading into the semifinals. If they are to book their place in the final, Uruguay will have to get past Peru in La Plata on Tuesday night.

Once again, Uruguay will be forced to play without Edinson Cavani, but playing without him has become the norm this tournament. He was dreadful in their first game and subbed off at halftime of their second game with a knee injury. They played their next two matches without him and now sit in the semifinals despite having played more minutes without their deadly striker than they have with him.

In Cacani’s absence, more has been asked of Diego Forlan and Luis Suarez and while Forlan shows his age, Suarez has been a menace for opponents, drawing free kick after free kick as defenders struggle to cope with him. Add in a fine Egidio Arevalo and Diego Perez and it’s not hard to see how Uruguay has succeeded as Cavani sits.

In addition to Cavani, Uruguay will also have to play without the injured Mauricio Victorino, who has started two of Uruguay’s four Copa America matches in the center of the defense. It won’t be too much of a blow because they can replace him with Sebastian Coates, who started the team’s other two matches.

While Cavani and Victorino sit out the match with injuries, Diego Perez will have to sit out due to suspension after being sent off in Uruguay’s quarterfinal match. Perez was lucky to have seen only yellow and not red for his challenge just minutes into the match. He went on to score Uruguay’s first goal, but the foolishly impeded a player who had beat him in the opposition’s half to earn his second yellow card. The midfielder will likely be replaced by Walter Gargano, who is a fine player, but Perez has been exceptional in the tournament and will certainly be missed.

Having both been drawn into Group C, Uruguay and Peru have already met this tournament. They played their first matches of Copa America against each other and while Peru played well, Uruguay was sluggish. They managed a 1-1 draw. Uruguay would go on to win five points from the group to finish in second place before edging Argentina on penalties in the quarterfinals, while Peru gathered four points in the group and took down Colombia, 2-0, in extra time to qualify for the semifinals.

Peru will have a tough time trying to stifle the Uruguay attack. Suarez will prove to be a handful and while Forlan has slowed, he is still deadly on the set pieces that Suarez does so well to earn. It’s tough to see any way for Peru to topple Uruguay, but this is a tournament where nothing has gone according to plan so what does the expected outcome really mean?