Copa America 2011 Quarterfinals, Chile Vs. Venezuela: Chile Stumble, Lose 2-1

Nobody would call the first half pretty and that’s somewhat appropriate. Copa America hasn’t been pretty with an abnormal amount of draws, a lack of goals and little of the brilliant passing that highlights that South American game. This match has fit in perfectly with both teams playing a game of giveaway, taking turns losing the ball with overambitious or just sloppy passing.

As poor as the match may be it times, it had one moment of fine play and it led to a goal. On a free kick from the right side, a perfect ball was driven towards the near post. Vicarrondo came flying through and deftly deflected a header past the goalkeeper and into the side netting for the opening tally of the match. It was a beautiful delivery, a superb header and while the first 45 minutes may not impress anyone, the goal was exactly how set plays are drawn up.

While this Chile side, coached by Claudio Borghi hasn’t looked quite as lethal as the one coached by Marcelo Bielsa, the Chileans have also not yet lost in this tournament. Their talent and form make them serious favorites against Venezuela, though that has proven to be basically meaningless so far in this tournament.

Chile vs. Venezuela kicks off at 6:15 PM E.T. and can be seen on Univision and Youtube in the USA. For our coverage of Sunday’s earlier quarterfinal, check out our Brazil vs. Paraguay StoryStream. For more on the Copa America, check out our 2011 Copa America section for all of our coverage from throughout the tournament. For our coverage of Saturday night’s quarterfinals, check out our Colombia vs. Peru and Argentina vs. Uruguay StoryStreams.