Peru and the American Cup 2011

By: Benjamin T-C.
Lyndhurst - New Jersey.
 As the American cup draws to an end with Uruguay taking the win against Paraguay on July 24, 2011, with an unbelievable three goals where as Paraguay ending with no goals against the hardworking opposing team. Paraguay however did give it their all in their fight for the cup but has some difficulty and some bad luck. Uruguay seemed to keep their composure where as Luis Suarez scored a marvelous goal against Paraguay and later on Diego Forlan finally stepping out of the shadows scored 2 goals bringing him back to the top and reminding everyone why he is a worthy forward and a strong scorer on the team. Paraguay after already losing and their momentum down still managed to bring one final amazing attack on Uruguay.
While pushing forward to the opposing team grounds Ortigoza was given a chance to chip to the ball to their forward, as the ball in the air neared him he let it pass over his shoulder and without touching the ground hit an amazing volley on the goalkeeper but by just a few feet the goalkeeper was able to change the direction of the ball with his mere fingertips as the ball hit the post hard canceling the incredible goal it was meant to be. As the referee blows his whistle Uruguay takes the cup as the champions they deserved to be.
This however was not the most viewed story in the American cup. Peru, a team that had been brutally demolished by a lot of others got back up and fought back hard on this year’s American cup. Upon defeating Colombia with a score of 2-0, Peru had opened the eyes of their fans who were expecting them to be eliminated early. After being called a low class team by a commenter when the match Peru vs. Mexico was starting Peru ultimately wins 1-0 proving them worthy once more. I remember hearing the commenter said “I wonder how Peru will fare against a more high class experienced team like Mexico.
At that moment I wanted to beat the living heck out of the guy that said that. I understand Peru hasn’t shown much in the past couple years but no need to announce it to the whole world and not to mention in the end Peru not only fared against a “high class team” like Mexico but won against them completely. I remember watching the match against Colombia and screaming out Goal! With the rest of my family I’ll never forget that moment of pride and how hard we had yelled out for our country it was breathtaking. Peru making it to the semifinals where they went one on one against Uruguay, at that game all I can honestly say is that we weren’t on Uruguay’s level that day as they hit us hard with 2 nicely done goals and that was the end of it. I found it that Peru made a mistake not starting with Chiroque and instead putting him in late during the 2nd half when we where already losing.
Although we lost against Uruguay I though that their team’s captain Lugano showed disrespect by a hard elbow to Guerrero when he was attempting to take the ball away, the referee didn’t budge. This dirty act however did not go unanswered as Juan Vargas later on landed a well deserved elbow to the Uruguayan Coates and because the referee was a few feet away from this act he sent off Vargas with a red card when it was Lugano who deserved it even more. Although eliminated from being able to compete in the final everyone still had their eyes on Peru and were anxious to know whether they would take 3rd place without Vargas or suffer a defeat at the hands of Venezuela.
Peru shocked its fans when the game ended with an unbelievable score of 4-1 against Venezuela taking third place for the American cup. Chiroque and Paolo Guerrero can be easily seen as the most important players of the game. Chiroque finally scoring a goal from Guerrero’s pass back to him and making one in for the team. 31 years old and still running Chiroque proves to be a very crucial player to Peru’s lineup. Paolo Guerrero making 3 goals in has become very famous in Peru and we can expect a lot more from him in future games. After the game ended I was stricken with joy and my faith for Peru’s soccer team which had never left me simply gave me more of to expect from them.
The president of Peru invited the team into the governor’s palace to see them and most likely congratulate them on a job well done. Soccer is one of the biggest things in Peru and I am happy to be part of the era where Peru got back up and hit hard with a major comeback and a place among the champions of this year’s American Cup.