By Ignacio Naya, DPA
Caracas (Venezuela) : The Copa America in Venezuela reached the quarter-finals stage with an impressive Argentina, a poor Brazilian performance and with "outsiders" Mexico and Paraguay establishing their credentials in the race for the title.
zVenezuela play Uruguay and Brazil face Chile here Saturday, while Mexico face Paraguay and Argentina clash with Peru in the quarterfinals Sunday.
So far, the tournament has been marked by the perennial dichotomy between Brazil and Argentina, South America's undisputed football giants.
Argentina, who took a first-choice squad led by Lionel Messi and Juan Roman Riquelme to Venezuela, have honoured their billing as favourites to lift the trophy by winning their three first-round games – the only one of 12 teams to achieve the feat.
Defending champions Brazil, on the other hand, were the last team to qualify for the second round with a very poor showing, and even suffered a clear 2-0 defeat at the hands of Mexico in their opener.
Most worrying for the fans, Brazil have appeared very much as a one-man show, with a team that some Brazilian media have dubbed "Robinho and 10 others."
The Real Madrid striker has scored all of Brazil's goals, and has consistently appeared as the only player able to cause any damage to rival defences.
However, even a second-best, poor quality Brazilian side, without senior stars like Ronaldinho and Kaka (who chose to rest after a long European season rather than play the prestigious Copa America), is likely to intimidate rivals.
As Dunga was careful to point out, Brazil have a history of not doing very well in group rounds, and still managed to lift the World Cup five times.
Moreover, the Copa America draw appears to favour Brazil more than Paraguay, Mexico or Argentina, with the latter three inevitably clashing with each other before a final where barring surprises Brazil would be waiting.
The July 15 final in Maracaibo, however, is still two rounds away. Curiously, the quarterfinals Venezuela-Uruguay and Brazil-Chile will be replays of first-round ties.
Venezuela and Uruguay played out a dreadful 0-0 that suited both teams on Tuesday, but in a knock-out round they will have to be more creative to advance to the semi-finals.
Brazil beat Chile 3-0 last week in a match that saw Dunga's team bounce back into the Copa after defeat to Mexico. That game was crucial for Brazil's aspirations in Venezuela, as is the upcoming quarter-final between the same two teams. Chile, in turn, will try to take advantage of having little to lose.
On Sunday, Mexico-Paraguay will inevitable see the elimination of one of the most solid teams in the first round. The match will also pit talented Mexican forward Nery Castillo against the consistent Paraguayan defence, and Paraguay striker Roque Santa Cruz against the only team that has only allowed in one goal in the first round.
"We are ready to face anyone," Mexican coach Hugo Sanchez has warned.
In the last of the quarter-finals, Argentina should in theory get past Peru. Led by new Chelsea striker Claudio Pizarro, Peru have shown poor defending and after a 3-0 debut win to Uruguay lost 2-0 to hosts Venezuela and were held to a 2-2 draw by lowly Bolivia.
Poor defending by the Peruvians would surely be suicidal in the face of the technical quality of Messi or Riquelme, and even in the absence of injured striker Hernan Crespo the likes of Diego Milito and Carlos Tevez are likely to cause damage.
"We hope to keep playing better and to get past one (rival) after the other," said Argentine coach Alfio Basile calmly.
The Copa America 2007 has already seen its share of surprises, and each team – beyond tradition or names – will this weekend have to earn on the pitch the right to advance to the semi-finals of the oldest national team competition in the world.