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Uruguay rolls to Copa America title

Uruguay Paraguay 1 (Reuters)

By FRANCO PANIZO

If getting to the semifinals in last year's World Cup wasn't proof enough that Uruguay was once again a force to be reckoned with, its win in the Copa America final likely was. 

Uruguay lifted a record 15th Copa America trophy on Sunday, disposing of Paraguay 3-0 in a match it controlled from the opening whistle. Diego Forlan scored twice and Luis Suarez netted one of his own to break the deadlock between Uruguay and Argentina, each of which entered the tournament with 14 Copa America titles.

Suarez opened the scoring in the 12th minute with a left footed finish that stung off the far post and went in, and Forlan doubled Uruguay's lead with his first goal in over a year three minutes prior to halftime with a left-footed finish. Forlan also put the nail in Paraguay's coffin with a goal in the waning moments of the match.

Paraguay, which had not won a game in regulation or extra time in the tournament, struggled to impose itself offensively against a stout Uruguay defense. The Paraguayans came closest to scoring in the second half off a shot from Naelson Haedo Valdez, but it hit the crossbar.

Here are the highlights from Uruguay's historic win:

 

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What do you think of Uruguay's win? Think they should be considered as a top team in international soccer now? Disappointed with Paraguay's showing?

Share your thoughts below.

Comments

  1. You are right, FIFA does not take talent into consideration – just the results. And Argentina is ranked eight places higher than Uruguay. And as for “who cares about the talent,” I suspect that most teams would prefer to face the Copa’s finalists, Uruguay and Paraguay rather than Brazil and Argentina.

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  2. Urgay got lucky in PK’s twice. Once against Argentina who clearly dominated them and once when Paraguay got outclassed by Brazil and it could have led to a BRazil/Urg final. Not to mention that Par got by a hot Venezuela team that would have been a more interesting matchup. Peru had a great Copa but Urg most def deserved the win over them props on that game. The final was just weak, Paraguay had no bidness being there.

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  3. This is no fluke.

    Uruguay has consistently improved in the past 5 years, at all levels. Senior team has done well and U17 team just finished second in their world cup.

    Wonderful results for a country with a population of 3.3 million.

    Can we learn something from them about developing players?

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  4. Uruguay has shown in the World Cup and COPA America, they are the better team. Sorry, Argentina, take it and deal with it.

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  5. Not to mention Uruguay got further in the World cup and copa america than Argentina. I don’t think he says they should be seeded over argentina because theyre less argentina is worse than england, i think he says this cause they are from the same region as uruguay, but have worse results than uruguay.

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  6. Let’s not go crazy. Uruguay had a great Copa, but teams like Brazil and Argentina have superior talent (both were eliminated in the penalty shootouts). If you watched Uruguay’s game against Argentina, Argentina was the better team, but Uruguay’s keeper had a game of his life. If you want to pick on a team that does not deserve to be seeded, it’s not Argentina. For me, it’s England, particularly after their abysmal performance in South Africa.

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  7. How can Uruguay not be a seed at 2014?

    Reigning Copa America champs and 4th place at the last World Cup should definitely be good enough for a seed over Argentina.

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  8. Great to see Uruguay win a title. They were among the most entertaining teams at the WC last year and Forlan deserves it. Very nice.

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