Finalist Uruguay rejects favoritism in the Copa América.
After a 2-0 victory against Peru, with two goals from Luis Suárez, the Uruguayan national team awaits the decision of its next opponent, which will be determined today in the match between Paraguay and Venezuela.
After beating Peru 2-0 on Tuesday night in La Plata, Uruguay sought to dispel the title favoritism that is already being attributed to them before the Copa América final, whose second finalist will be decided this Wednesday at 21:45 pm in Mendoza, in the match between Paraguay and Venezuela.
On Argentinian soil, Uruguay will attempt to win its 15th Copa América title and become the most successful team in the competition's history. Currently, the country shares the lead in titles with Argentina, with 14 trophies each, but Uruguayan players and coach Oscar Tabárez set tradition aside when discussing their chances of becoming champions.
"The press and the fans portray us as favorites, but we know that, nowadays, against whichever opponent we face, it will be complicated," stated striker Diego Forlán, chosen by FIFA as the best player of the 2010 World Cup. "We are not going (to the final) as favorites of anything," added the athlete, who is not deluded by the impressive results of recent times, such as fourth place in last year's World Cup.
Forlán has yet to score in this Copa América, but one of his shots led to the rebound that resulted in Luis Suárez opening the scoring against Peru. And in next Sunday's final, Oscar Tabárez hopes his star player can once again be decisive for Uruguay, who were eliminated by Brazil on penalties in the semi-finals of the last edition of the tournament in 2007.
"We're going to play in the final and we're very happy. In the previous Copa América, we were eliminated by a penalty shootout," recalled Oscar Tabárez, who praised Luis Suárez, who scored both goals in the victory over Peru.
"He's a great striker, one of the elite strikers in world football. For us, (Suárez) is not a new discovery," he said, before adding: "He's a player who scores a lot of goals and forces, for example, 13 fouls against him in the match against Argentina (in the quarterfinals)."
With his decisive performance last Tuesday in La Plata, Suárez equaled Agüero of Argentina in the Copa América scoring charts with three goals each.
See below the goals from Uruguay's victory: