Uruguay striker Luis Suarez knows he is inching closer to retirement but the veteran player is hoping to enjoy the final stretch of a stellar career, no matter how many minutes he gets on the pitch at the Copa America.

Suarez is Uruguay’s all-time top scorer with 68 international goals and although the 37-year-old has only come on as a late substitute in two games at the Copa America – totalling eight minutes so far – he is not one to complain.

“I’m enjoying every moment very much. It is something that at my age, as you get older, you enjoy it more and more whether you’re playing a lot or playing a little, because you know that the flame of football is dying out,” Suarez told AUF TV.

“I’m just one more (player in the squad), you’ve already seen it. Playing or not playing, I’m happy with the part I’m doing and trying to help as much as I can.”

Once one of the most-feared strikers in Europe, Atletico Madrid boss Diego Simeone had described a crucial period in the 2020-21 title race as entering the “Luis Suarez zone”, when the striker’s experience guided them to their last league title.

But with Uruguay set to face Brazil in Saturday’s high-octane quarter-final, Suarez is placing his confidence in the young players coming through the ranks to get the job done.

“I hope it (the zone) doesn’t appear in this Copa because that would mean that Uruguay is doing well and that it’s not necessary. If it’s needed, we’ll be there because we hope to write another chapter in the national team,” he said.

“This group gave a very big blow in the World Cup qualifiers by beating Brazil and Argentina. They earned that power on the pitch by showing that they can beat anyone… The time has come to prove it and it’s a great test for us.”

Suarez has also been mentoring 25-year-old striker Darwin Nunez, who followed in his footsteps by signing for Premier League side Liverpool and has scored twice in the tournament.

“I try to help as much as I can, I was in Darwin’s place, I was Darwin’s age,” Suarez said.

“El ‘Loco’ (Sebastian Abreu) was the first to support me and today, being in that place, you have to be a motivation for him.”

-Reuters

Brazil’s Vinicius Jr scored twice in his side’s 4-1 Copa America victory over Paraguay in a Group D clash in Nevada on Friday, bouncing back from a lacklustre display in his first game of the tournament.

Colombia, who have qualified for the quarter-finals, top Group D with six points after two matches, with Brazil in second on four points.

Costa Rica are third with one point and Paraguay, who are bottom with zero after two defeats, have been eliminated from the competition in the group stage for only the second time since 2001.

This victory marked Brazil’s first win in six competitive matches and their maiden competitive win under the management of Dorival Jr, who took charge of the team in January.

From the whistle, Vinicius’ pace and trickery posed a constant threat to Paraguay down the left flank, a far cry from his performance in Brazil’s 0-0 draw with Costa Rica in their opening group stage match, in which he was largely ineffectual.

Despite Brazil’s strong start, it was Paraguay who almost went ahead in the 15th minute as Damian Bobadilla’s goal-bound effort took a massive deflection off Eder Militao and nearly wrongfooted Brazil goalkeeper Alisson Becker, who showed quick reflexes to keep out the strike.

Brazil earned a 28th-minute penalty for a handball, which was fired wide by Lucas Paqueta, but the midfielder made up for his miss seven minutes later as he set up Vinicius with a first-time pass to cap off a flowing team move.

Girona winger Savio doubled Brazil’s advantage after pouncing on a rebound inside the box, before Vinicius stuck out a boot to divert a clearance from Omar Alderete into the net for his second goal of the night in first half stoppage time.

Paraguay got a goal back after the break as Alderete netted a superb long-range, but any hopes of a comeback were swiftly dashed when Brazil were awarded a penalty in the 68th minute after a handball by Mathias Villasanti.

Despite his earlier miss, Paqueta stepped up and made no mistake at the second time of asking to send Brazil’s fans at the Allegiant Stadium into delirium.

Towards the end of the match, tempers flared and Andres Cubas was shown a red card after kicking out at Douglas Luiz, with Brazil using their man’s advantage to comfortably see out the game and clinch the three points.

“In particular the first half, up to the 40 minutes, it was very even,” Paraguay coach Daniel Garnero told reporters.

“I think we created some opportunities. Unfortunately, in the three minutes we got a bit distracted and they scored two goals that made a great difference in the result. And Vinicius is an elite player, no doubt about it.”

Brazil next face group leaders Colombia in California on Tuesday, where a draw would be enough to secure qualification for the quarter-finals.

Paraguay face Costa Rica, who retain a slim chance of progressing to the quarter-finals, in Texas.

-Reuters

Panama pulled off a shock 2-1 victory over the United States in a heated Group C encounter at the Copa America on Thursday after the hosts were reduced to 10 men following Tim Weah’s red card in the 18th minute.

Jose Fajardo netted the winner in the 83rd minute for Panama, who had Adalberto Carrasquilla dismissed five minutes later for a crunching challenge on Christian Pulisic.

The U.S. are second in the group, level with Panama on three points but with a better goal difference. The hosts must at least match Panama’s result in the final group game to advance to the knockout rounds.

The U.S. play Uruguay while Panama face Bolivia on Monday.

“Emotional rollercoaster, but that’s soccer at the end of the day,” U.S. midfielder Tyler Adams said.

“We know what we signed up for and playing in Copa America we knew it was going to be a fight. Credit to Panama. They did their job. They got the result.”

Panama coach Thomas Christiansen said his team had executed the game plan perfectly.

“I’m very happy, in particular for the team, tactically and psychologically,” he added.

“I try to make the best decisions by being calm, level-minded. And of course, everyone that went in contributed what we expected from them, and now we have a victory such as this one.”

It was a costly night all round for the hosts, with goalkeeper Matt Turner being substituted at halftime with a leg injury after a collision with Panama defender Cesar Blackman in the 12th minute.

Weah was sent off after a video review showed he had shoved Roderick Miller in the back of the head off the ball amid a tense and fiery start to the match.

After Weah’s dismissal, Folarin Balogun delighted the crowd with a splendid strike from 17 yards to give the hosts the lead in the 22nd minute. However, the joy was shortlived as Blackman equalised from the edge of the box four minutes later.

“There were things before the red card that went against us,” Balogun said. “Of course, we probably could have had a few decisions, but that’s the nature of the game.”

Ethan Horvath replaced the injured Turner in the U.S. goal at the break and nearly faced a penalty in the 64th minute but the decision against U.S. defender Cameron Carter-Vickers was overturned by video review.

The best opportunity for the U.S. in the second half came in the 81st minute when a header by Ricardo Pepi was saved by Panama goalkeeper Orlando Mosquera.

Panama then seized the initiative, scoring the winning goal when substitute Fajardo smashed home Abdiel Ayarza’s cross.

“Moving forward, we need to control our emotions in certain situations,” Adams said. “I think the team fought for everything after we got the red card. You definitely can’t fault the effort.

“By winning the first game, we put still ourselves in a position that we can have everything to play for in the last game.”

Weah had apologised to the team after the match, he added.

“Just respect to the rest of the team because they fought for every single ball, every single duel, every single minute, and we still created chances after going down 10 men, so it shows our quality.”

-Reuters