I've decided to start a series of posts on soccer in Peru, largely neglected in international soccer media, and with good reason, because it usually sucks. Why then, does it deserve a series? Because I happen to be on vacation in Lima, my hometown, for a couple more weeks before returning to the States for grad school, and I'm planning to attend 3 games in that time, maybe 4 if I push it.

The Champions League 2nd QR is over, setting up the matchups for next week, when some of the big boys finally show up. The 2nd QR in itself is very uninteresting, with little chance for significant upsets, mainly because only a handful of prestigious teams play and none from the top 9 European leagues (as determined by UEFA).
No huge matchups in the 3rd QR either, but at least we get to see top teams, and maybe an upset or two.

I'll try to keep the following list of summer silverware updated. Included: any friendly invitational tournaments held between clubs on a regular basis (or an attempt at starting a regularly held one). While SuperLiga is invitational this year, it will have qualification procedures starting next year, and it has the support of MLS, Femexfut and CONCACAF, even if it's not a fully "official" tournament, so I don't include it.

The 2010 World Cup qualifiers technically begin on August 25 with the Pacific Games soccer tournament, whose 3 medallists will join New Zealand in the OFC Nations Cup to determine who plays the AFC's 5th for a berth in South Africa.
But the OFC is a joke, much more so since Australia's departure to the AFC last year. New Zealand should easily win that half-berth, likely ending in swift capitulation against their playoff rival.

So, with the 7½ straight weaks of Gold Cup, Copa América, U-20 World Cup and Asian Cup over, international soccer cedes the spotlight to club soccer again. While leagues like MLS and Brazil's Série A had been going on, plus summer friendlies and the novelty of SuperLiga, this past weekend finally featured the start of league soccer in Europe, or at least the parts with decent championships.

This is ancient history by now, but I haven't posted anything in the past week because I was out of town and/or too lazy, so I have to write about it: Iraq won their first Asian Cup title, having defeated pre-tournament favorites Australia (group stage), South Korea (semis) and Saudi Arabia (final). The last game is not that memorable, just a 1-0 win which allowed Younis Mahmoud to become top scorer tied with Japan's Takahara and Saudi's al-Qahtani, and secure the MVP award.

The East Asian powerhouses, Japan and South Korea, are done at the Asian Cup, after falling in the semis to Middle Eastern opponents: Saudi Arabia and Iraq.
The Saudis prevailed after a 5-goal spree within a 25-minute interval in the middle of the game, beating defending champs Japan, who had won 3 of the last 4 tournaments. They will now get a chance to get their fourth title and surpass their opponents and Iran in overall silverware.

The U-20 World Cup in Canada is over and Argentina got its 6th title, the 5th in the last 7 editions, after beating the Czechs 2-1. Chile did play the third-place match and got the bronze over Austria, 1-0 in the end. The full aftermath of Thursday's fiasco is still pending.
In the final, the Czech Republic played more conservatively than its rival, but finally scored the opener on a beautiful volley by Fenin, 15 minutes into the 2nd half.

So, other things happened, starting with the Asian Cup: Uzbekistan stunned China 3-0, knocking them out of the tournament. Iran beat Malaysia 2-0 and won the group. In Group D, South Korea finally got a win, 1-0 over Thailand and qualified behind Saudi Arabia, who destroyed Bahrain 4-0. Quarterfinals this weekend: Iran-Korea and Saudi-Uzbekistan, apart from Japan-Australia and Iraq-Vietnam.

Plenty has happened since the last post, but I'll reserve this one for the U-20 World Cup semis. In rematches of two scoreless group stage games, Argentina will play the Czechs in the final and Chile should face Austria. And I say "should" because I'd be surprised if FIFA allows Chile play and Chile shows up after what happened on Thursday.
Wednesday's semi was not too eventful: the Czech Republic got only its second victory without a PK shootout, beating Austria 2-0 with both goals inside the first 15 minutes.

U-20 action continued and a European-South American final is now assured. Current champion Argentina beat fellow contender and U-17 title holder Mexico 1-0, with a goal by Moralez, whose shot was deflected by a defender. Agüero et al. will now face Chile, who beat Nigeria, 4-0, but only after extra time... weird. The other semi will be played by Austria and the Czech Republic, coincidentally the runners-up in Chile's and Argentina's groups, so the South American team would be the favorite in the final (also, the Czechs needed penalty shootouts to advance against both Japan and Spain).

Brazil wins the Copa América again and I feel rather disgusted. Disgusted that a team that played so well before this game so deservedly lost the final against an undeserving champion. Yes, this match went as well as it could get for them, but they had shown so little before... the worst or at least the ugliest Brazil in years, a team that didn't deserve to be in the final to begin with, a team that was so lucky to survive the penalty shootout against Uruguay.

El Tri won the meaningless game for third place 3-1 against Uruguay, who score the opener, but got their captain Lugano sent off in a penalty kick call that also resulted in the equalizer. Then Mexico was simply better in the 2nd half. Ochoa had some very good saves and, despite only playing 3 games, he has probably been the best keeper of the tournament.

The U-20 World Cup knockout stages started, with Austria beating Gambia and the Czech Republic winning the shootout against Japan. But the main courses were the US and Spain rallying to defeat Uruguay and Brazil in extra time. The US only scored the equalizer with a couple of minutes left, won 2-1, and are favorites to beat Austria and reach the semis.

Argentina and Brazil will once again play the Copa América final, in a repeat of 2004.
Brazil only managed to beat Uruguay in penalty kicks, after failing to hold on to the lead twice: 2-2 at the end, each had its chances and the tie was deserved. No extra time, as always in South America, and straight to PKs. Forlán, who had scored earlier after a horrible fist clear by Doni, shot his penalty horrendously, but Afonso's miss evened things out, with Abreu closing the round of 5 shots per side with a beautifully executed Panenka-style chip down the middle.