Paraguay vs. Venezuela – Half Time Report – Copa http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/America-c38390 2011
Paraguay faced Venezuela in the last match of the group stages. http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Brazil-c2858, Paraguay were the favourites to
win the game.
The Paraguayan coach Gerardo Martino featured his favourite 4-4-2 formation. On the other hand, Cesar Farias also fielded a 4-4-2 for Venezuela.
Villar stood guard between the two sticks for Paraguay and he was assisted by four defenders. The defensive http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Job-c18684 was handed over to Veron, Silva, Alcaraz and Torres.
The four midfielders included two central midfielders and two players who operated on the flanks. While Ortigoza and Riveros played in the centre of the pitch, Vera played on the right flank and Estigarribia played on the left flank.
The four man midfield supported a two man attack of Santa Cruz and Barrios.
Vega was the goal stopper for Venezuela. He was also assisted by four defenders. Vizcarrondo, Cichero, Rosales and Perozo played in the defensive positions.
Venezuela’s four man midfield also consisted of two players playing in the heart of the pitch and two operating on the flanks. Rincon and Orozco played in the centre midfield role while Di Giorgi and Gonzalez played on the right and left flank respectively.
Venezuela also featured a two man attack. Arismendi and Rondon played up front as strikers; however, Arismendi played right behind Rondon and fell back to add an extra man to the midfield.
Venezuela, despite being the least favourites to win the match, got their tactics right and managed to shock Paraguay with midfield domination. As the game kicked off, Venezuela’s approach was more direct and they were looking forward to scoring the first
goal.
The goal eventually came during the sixth minute of the game. It was the first chance created by the Venezuelans and Rondon took advantage of it and found the back of the net. Arismendi gave a through ball to Rondon and the Venezuela striker made no mistake
and shooting the ball into the net.
Venezuela created another goal scoring opportunity. It was Rondon who was stealing the show or his side and he was the one who released Gonzalez with an inch perfect through ball. Even though Gonzalez had all the time in the world, he couldn’t really put
the ball behind the net. It was simply a glorious opportunity for the Venezuelans and they missed it.
They were made to pay for their missed chance on goal right after three minutes. Paraguay got their first goal of the game and managed to come back on level terms. First, Barrios headed the ball towards the goal and it looped over the Venezuelan goalkeeper
and crashed the inside of the goal.
The ball deflected the cross bar and found Vega’s safe hands which thumped the ball clear. However, the ball was crossed back again and the Venezuelan http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Defence-c38904 totally opened up. The ball found Alcaraz in the danger zone and he simply volleyed it home. It
was an amazing strike which helped Paraguay take a step back into the game.
First half ended 1-1 for both the sides and even though Venezuela were looking to be the better side, Paraguay were still the favourites to win the game as they were trying to make a comeback.
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