Not many fans saw this one coming. At least not before the tournament kicked in two weeks ago. Brazil and Argentina are now officially out of the tournament. They were the two favorite teams to win it all. Now, despite having two of the most sought after players in the continent, that is Lionel Messi for Argentina and Neymar for Brazil, the two teams were an utter disappointment, and their early exit only leaves us wondering if it is time for Brazil to get their act together before they host the next World Cup and for Argentina to stop living off their past glories. It’s been a long time since Mexico 1986. Brazil and Argentina have been two forces to reckon with in the past. Not only in South America, but their players are exported every year to professional leagues in Europe where they compete among the best players in the world. But when it comes to penalty kicks, there is plenty to do learn still for these multimillion-dollar squads. The semifinals will pit Uruguay against Peru and Paraguay against Venezuela, which advanced to the semifinals for the first time in its history by beating Chile 2-1. This is certainly an unexpected outcome. Venezuela is perhaps the biggest surprise. Consider for a moment that with what Barcelona paid for Lionel Messi, you could buy Venezuela’s national team, player by player including the bench, 10 times. But then again, it seems to be an endless story of disappointment for the Argentinean and the Brazilian team. The Copa America 2011 hosted by Argentina will bring out a new South American champion for the first time in at least 16 years. Uruguay won the 1995 tournament at home, and since then Brazil won four titles and Colombia one"at home in 2001. Let’s start with Brazil. The defending champion outplayed Paraguay from the start but was not able to capitalize on its scoring opportunities, thanks mostly to a great performance by goalkeeper Justo Villar. The talented 34 year-old keeper currently plays in Argentina for Estudiantes de la Plata. Shooting Penalties wasn’t the Brazilian team stronghold and Justo Villar was going to make them suffer at the end. After 120 minutes of game, Brazil and Paraguay went on to the Penalty Kicks. Villar stopped defender Thiago Silva’s shot in the shootout and Elano, Andre Santos and Fred would eventually miss their shots for Brazil, giving the Paraguayans a 2-0 victory. Argentina’s exit also was nothing short of an utter disappointment. Let’s not forget that Argentina was playing at home, and had Lionel Messi as their creative player. The squad was working in overdrive as it was trying to end a drought of 18 years without major titles. But the Uruguayans got on their way. Not only had to go on with 10 players for a little under 40 minutes of game time, but they kept on defending cleverly and taking every chance to rapidly move their lines forward for with dangerous counterattacks. Uruguay is now on track for its record breaking 15th title as it seems to be the strongest team to advance into the semifinals. But then again, this particular Copa America has been fairly cruel to the favorites.
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