
Chile 0-3 Peru: Underdogs setup final against Brazil
The minnows of Peru will face hosts Brazil in the 2019 Copa America final following a shock 3-0 thrashing of reigning champions Chile.
Ricardo Gareca’s side overcame Uruguay on penalties in the quarter-finals without attempting a single shot on target over the 120 minutes. On Wednesday night at the Arena do Grêmio they amassed three shots on target and scored with each one of them.
Edison Flores found space at the back post to volley Peru into a surprise lead midway through the first half. The fans in Porto Alegre were then stunned when left-back Yoshimar Yotun volleyed in a second before the break, to punish a mistake by Chile goalkeeper Gabriel Arias seven minutes before half-time. Arias had tried closing down Peru’s attack near his penalty area to leave only defenders in front of Yotun’s volley.
Peru caught Chile out on the counter-attack in stoppage time as Paolo Guerrero completed the scoring by rounding Arias before tapping into an empty net.
There was still time for Eduardo Vargas to miss a penalty for Chile, who are ranked 16th in FIFA’s world rankings.
Peru will now take on Brazil in the final at the famous Maracana stadium on Sunday.