SÃO PAULO: The group stage of the Copa America ended with Brazil and Uruguay still the favorites and Argentina still unable to meet expectations.
Colombia also impressed early on, finishing with a perfect record and without conceding any goals, while two-time defending champion Chile stuttered after a good start.
The quarterfinals of the South American competition begin Thursday with host Brazil taking on old foe Paraguay in Porto Alegre, and a day later in Rio de Janeiro it will be Argentina facing a Venezuela team it has struggled against recently.
Also Friday, Colombia plays Chile in São Paulo, and on Saturday Uruguay’s attacking duo of Luis Suárez and Edinson Cavani will face Peru in Salvador.
Here’s a closer look at the Copa America quarterfinals this week:
BRAZIL-PARAGUAY
Brazil got off to a slow start, being booed by the local crowd in its first two matches, but the 5-0 rout of Peru eased the pressure on coach Tite and boosted the team’s confidence entering the knockout stage.
Paraguay barely survived the first round, advancing with only two points as one of the best third-place finishers from the three groups. But it played better than the results showed, letting victory escape against Argentina only because of a missed penalty kick in the second half.
Brazil easily beat Paraguay the last time the teams met — in a World Cup qualifier two years ago. But it was Paraguay that eliminated Brazil the last two times the “Seleção” made it to the Copa America quarterfinals, in 2011 and 2015. Paraguay came out on top in penalty shootouts both times.
“It will be a difficult match, we will need to be very focused,” Brazilian playmaker Philippe Coutinho said. “But the team is full of confidence, things are going well for us right now.”
VENEZUELA-ARGENTINA
Argentina would normally be favored against Venezuela, but this time there is reason for concern for Lionel Messi and his teammates.
While Argentina continues to struggle and just escaped elimination in the group stage, Venezuela enters the quarterfinals carrying good momentum.
“We will have to play better against Venezuela,” Messi said. “It’s a team with very clear ideas in attack, with very quick players.”
Venezuela, which held Brazil to a 0-0 draw in the group stage, defeated Argentina 3-1 in a friendly in Madrid in March. It drew its previous two matches with the Argentines, both in qualifying for the last World Cup.
After losing the last two Copa America finals, Argentina remains on a quest to end a 26-year title drought with the senior squad.
COLOMBIA-CHILE
Chile’s title defense will go through a red-hot Colombia, the only team to win all of its matches and not concede any goals.
James Rodriguez and Radamel Falcao will be taking on Alexis Sanchez and Eduardo Vargas, two of Chile’s leaders in the title-winning campaigns of 2015 and 2016.
The Chileans couldn’t avoid the Colombians because it lost to Uruguay 1-0 in the final group game, when midfielder Arturo Vidal was among those rested by coach Reinaldo Rueda, a Colombian.
Colombia is led by Portuguese coach Carlos Queiroz, and is seeking its first South American title since 2001.
URUGUAY-PERU
With Suárez and Cavani thriving, Uruguay will be favored against a Peruvian squad coming off a demoralizing loss to Brazil that prompted a wave of criticism against Argentine coach Ricardo Gareca.
Peru’s defense is the worst among the teams in the quarterfinals, with six goals conceded in three matches. Uruguay has the second-best attack with eight goals, one less than Brazil.
Cavani and Suárez have already scored two goals each for Uruguay, while Peru striker Paolo Guerrero has only one.
Uruguay is the Copa America’s most successful team with 15 titles, one more than Argentina. Uruguay’s last continental title was in 2011.
Brazil, Uruguay strong in Copa America, Argentina stutters
Brazil, Uruguay strong in Copa America, Argentina stutters
- Take a closer look at the Copa America quarterfinals this week
PSG president Nasser Al-Khelaifi grounded in Qatar amid intensifying Iran war
- Al-Khelaifi has been trying to return to Paris ahead of PSG’s Champions League round-of-16 match against Chelsea on Wednesday
- He was trying to get a flight out of Doha on Tuesday evening or Wednesday morningWEST SAI
PARIS: Paris Saint-Germain president Nasser Al-Khelaifi has been left stranded in Qatar amid the war in the Middle East.
Al-Khelaifi has not been able to fly out of Doha for more than a week, a person with knowledge of the situation told The Associated Press on Tuesday. The person spoke on the condition on anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly.
Flights in and out of the Middle East have been impacted by the Iran war, which began the US and Israeli strikes on Feb. 28.
Al-Khelaifi has been trying to return to Paris ahead of PSG’s Champions League round-of-16 match against Chelsea on Wednesday. He was trying to get a flight out of Doha on Tuesday evening or Wednesday morning, the person said.
With only limited space available on commercial flights, passengers have been left waiting until close to take-off if they have been approved to fly.
The ripple effects of the war have spread across the Middle East and beyond with Iran launching retaliatory strikes in the Gulf states. It has upended travel across the region, stranding hundreds of thousands of people.
Airports in the Gulf serve as critical hubs connecting travelers going to Europe, Africa and Asia. Airspace closures have seen many carriers forced to either cancel flights or shift to longer routes.
Last week US citizens described frustrations and growing fear as they encountered closed airports and canceled flights.
But there have been signs that flight disruptions are easing.
The British government said Tuesday that the number of commercial flights from the United Arab Emirates to the UK was returning to normal levels.
The Foreign Office said 32 flights operated from Dubai to Britain on Monday and another 36 were scheduled Tuesday. The British government has also operated a handful of chartered flights from Oman and Dubai, with more than 45,000 UK citizens returning from the Gulf since the conflict began.
PSG are the defending European champion and hosts Chelsea at Parc des Princes in the first leg of the round of 16 tie. The teams play again in London next week.
