Argentina
and
Paraguay are joining
Mexico in Copa
America’s quarter-finals after
Monday’s matches.
Argentian defeated Colombia 4-2, thanks to goals scored
by Hernan Crespo, Juan Roman Riquelme and Diego Milito.
Colombia's
Edixon Perea opened the score in the 10th minute, but ten minutes later Crespo
converted a penalty on Lionel Messi. Unfortunately, Crespo appeared to strain a
muscle as he converted the ball and was substituted immediately. After the
match the Inter Milan forward said that he is likely to miss the remainder of
the tournament.
Argentina's
Juan Roman Riquelme header put the score at 2-1 in the 34th minute, and shortly
after he took it to 3-1 with a free kick seconds into extra time.
During the second half, Jaime Castrillon scored a goal for Colombia,
taking the score to 3-2 in the 73rd minute, but Diego Milito, made it a
definitive 4-2 two minutes into extra time.
"We have done things well," Riquelme agreed.
"The team shows a lot of calm on the pitch."
In their second math at Copa America,
the United States team was
defeated by Paraguay
3-1. That followed a 4-1 loss to Argentina last Thursday.
Paraguay
struck first with an Edgar Barreto goal in the 29th minute. Ricardo Clark
equalized five minutes before half-time, but striker Cardozo made it 2-1 after
55 minutes of play. Salvador Cabanas scored his third goal of Copa America in
injury time.
"We gave them too many easy chances. When you give good
teams and good players easy chances, they're going to beat you," veteran
goalkeeper Kasey Keller said.
"But this is why we're here, to give these young guys experience.
Unfortunately, sometimes you need to make mistakes to learn."
In the final matches of the first round in Group C, Argentina will play Paraguay
and the United States will
face Colombia.
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