Chile seeks a place in the quarterfinals against a Uruguay in need of victory

Chile seeks a place in the quarterfinals against a Uruguay in need of victory

MENDOZA, July 7, 2011 (AFP) - Chile will seek a victory that will give the passage to the quarterfinals of the Copa America on Friday, when the team faces in the second round of Group C Uruguay, which need the three points forward to their classification.

"La Roja" arrived as the leader of the group with three points after winning the debut against Mexico (2-1), while Uruguay accumulates one point, the 1-1 draw against Peru.

"My respect for Uruguay is not just for this game, but for its history," said Chile's coach Claudio Borghi, who felt that "there is always something more, only when you are bad, but this is not the case becausethey had a good World Copa in South Africa in 2010 and had the best player in the last World Cup (Diego Forlan).”

Thinking about the power of the Celeste, Borghi said that he will not change his 3-4-1-2 tactical scheme, admitting that he will take some precautions to the midfielders work with the defensive line.

On the other hand, the Uruguayan coach Oscar Tabarez announced that he will change two of the team that faced Peru, to adapt to the game of Chile, a rival that he finds more difficult.

"The changes will make the team mainly because of Chile. We try to adapt the characteristics of the rival and respect their strengths. The changes are due to all this”, Tabarez said.

The news of the entries is the defender Sebastian Coates in place of Mauricio Victorino and in the midfield Alvaro Pereira in place of Nicolás Lodeiro.

The game between Chile and Uruguay will open the second round of Group C, in the Malvinas Argentinas stadium, in Mendoza, at 19.15 local (22.15 GMT).

The referee of the match will be Carlos Amarilla, of Paraguay, while his assistants will be the compatriot Nicolas Yegros and Efrain Castro, from Bolivia.

Possible line-ups of the teams:

Uruguay: 1-Fernando Muslera, 16-Maxi Pereira, 2-Diego Lugano, 4-Sebastian Coates and 22-Martín Cáceres; 15-Diego Pérez, 17-Egidio Arévalo Ríos and 11-Álvaro Pereira; 9-Luis Suárez, 10-Diego Forlán and 21-Edinson Cavani. Coach: Oscar Tabárez.

Chile: 1-Claudio Bravo, 5-Pablo Contreras, 3-Waldo Ponce, 18-Gonzalo Jara; 4-Mauricio Isla, 17-Gary Medel, 8-Arturo Vidal, 14-Matías Fernández and 15-Jean Beausejour; 7-Alexis Sánchez and 9-Humberto Suazo. Coach: Claudio Borghi.

The stars of the game:

Uruguay: The ‘celeste’ team has as highlights its offensive attack trio: Luis Suarez, Diego Forlán and Edinson Cavani. Luis Suarez, 24, is the talisman of the 9 shirt. He was the player who putted his hand in the game against Ghana in 2010 World Cup, saving a goal that would eliminate the ‘celeste’. Liverpool player, Suarez moved to the England team and it's a reference to the team. Edinson Cavani, also 24, is the great revelation of Uruguay. Playing in Italy, he did a very good season and is the highlight of his team. Diego Forlán, 32, was the best player in the last World Cup. He is the great experience of the attack and reference to the other two players. Other stars of the national team are Fernando Muslera and Diego Lugano.

Chile: The Chilean team highlight is Sánchez. The striker Alexis Sánchez, 22, was the Udinese’s star (ITA) last season. With beautiful exhibitions, he is wanted by big clubs in Europe, like the Spanish Real Madrid and Barcelona, and also Manchester United. Other important players in this team are Matias Fernandez, Humberto Suazo and Claudio Bravo.

Curiosities of the Confrontation:

- This confrontation has happened 73 times, with 42 wins of Uruguay, Chile has 15 wins and 16 draws. Uruguay has 127 goals and Chile scored 73 times.

- For the Copa America were 27 matches with 18 wins of Uruguay, Chile has 6 wins and 3 draws. Uruguay scored 60 times and Chile scored 26 goals.

- 24 years ago, Uruguay and Chile faced the end of the 1987 Copa America, in Argentina. The ‘celeste’ was crowned champion by winning by 1-0.

- The top scorers of the clash in the Copa America are the Uruguayans Scarone Romano, Petrone and Ciocca and Chilean Molina, all with two goals.

- Uruguay is the team that participated in more Copa America, going 41 times.

- The ‘celeste’ is also the most champion, along with Argentina, with 14 titles.

- Chile has never won an Copa America.

- Chile has the player who most played in the Copa America, Sergio Livingstone, with 34 games from 1941/53.

- In the Copa America, Chile has not won Uruguay since 1983. The last victory was by 2-0, in Santiago, Chile.

The last duel:

In the last duel, Chile won Uruguay. The victory was in friendly, by 2-0, held in Santiago, Chile, in 2010. The goals were scored by Alexis Sanchez and Arturo Vidal (the two are in the game on Friday).http://www.ca2011.com