Copa America 2011 – Team of the tournament: Luis Suarez, Diego Lugano and more (Part 2)
After elaborating on the goalkeeping heroics of http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Venezuela-c3039 and Uruguay respectively, it is time to shed some light on the remaining
players in our team of the tournament feature series...
http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Uruguay-c3035 – Centre back)
Diego Lugano was one of the stars of the Copa America 2011 in http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Argentina-c2841. The experienced defender is not only a very astute defender but he also takes pride in organizing the Uruguayan back line and this was seen when Uruguay squeezed
out a win against Argentina in the quarterfinal of the tournament. The hosts had a numerical advantage over their opponents but Uruguay held their own at the back whilst Lugano played as a sweeper and didn’t allow the likes of Higuain and Messi to run the
show on their own.
Moreover Lugano’s performances improved as the tournament progressed onwards. He was average in the group stages but when the knockout stages hit the stage, Lugano’s body language and his demeanour changed. In the end, Lugano assisted
his team to win the Copa http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/America-c38390 2011 with some impressive displays at the back. He was also awarded the fair play award at the end of the tournament which does justice to his performances throughout the competition.
http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Gabriel-Cichero-c14297 (Venezuela – Left back)
Cichero was another one of the players that rose to fame through his eye catching displays in the Copa America 2011 in Argentina. Venezuela’s run to the semi-finals was a surprising one but not if you acknowledge the quality that
Gabriel brought to the South American minnows line up. The speedy wing back was bombing up and down the left wing for Venezuela like his life depended on it.
His performance against Chile in the quarterfinals will go down as one of the most comprehensive displays by a full back in history of Copa America. In the end, it was his goal that knocked http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Chile-c2871 out of the tournament and guaranteed
Venezuela a semi-final berth. Consequently, Venezuela failed to make it past the semi after losing out to Paraguay on penalty kicks but http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Gabriel-c14281 Cichero has a bright future ahead of him both on the domestic as well as the international stage.
Cristian Riveros (Centre midfield – http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Paraguay-c2979)
In the first part of this article, we elaborated on how Justo Villar led Paraguay through his impressive goalkeeping displays but it will be unfair to the minnows of the tournament and their run to the final of the competition
if we do not pay respect to http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Cristian-Riveros-c9591. The Sunderland midfielder who was recently sent out on loan by the Black Cats took the stage at Copa America 2011 for Paraguay in fantastic fashion. Riveros is not known for his flair and creativity on the ball
but he did what he is good at, he pressed for his team and after winning the ball he gave it to someone who can carry out Paraguay’s offensive moves. Riveros can be called a somewhat lacklustre version of http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Michael-Carrick-c25282 but the international stage suited
him more than the domestic one in the English Premier League where he has been anonymous to say the least.
To be continued in part 3...
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