Copa America 2011 Champions, matches, fact and achievements

Copa America 2011 was the 43rd edition of the Copa América, the main international football tournament for national teams in South America. The competition was organized by CONMEBOL, South America’s football governing body, and was held in Argentina from 1 to 24 July. The draw for the tournament was held in La Plata on 11 November 2010.

Copa America 2011 Awards

Champions	Runners- Up	Third Place	Fourth Place	Fair play award
Uruguay (15th title)	Paraguay	Peru	Venezuela	Uruguay

Most Valuable Player	Best Young Player	Top Goalscorer	Best Goalkeeper
Luis Suárez	Sebastián Coates	Paolo Guerrero, 5 goal	Justo Villar

Copa America 2011 Group Stage
Group A

Position	Team	Played	Win	Draw	Loss	GF	GA	GD	Point
1. (Qualified)	Colombia	3	2	1	0	3	0	+3	7
2. (Qualified)	Argentina (Host)	3	1	2	0	4	1	+3	5
3	Costa Rica	3	1	0	2	2	4	−2	3
4	Bolivia	3	0	1	2	1	5	−4	1

Group B

Position	Team	Played	Win	Draw	Loss	GF	GA	GD	Point
1. (Qualified)	Brazil	3	1	2	0	6	4	+2	5
2. (Qualified)	Venezuela	3	1	2	0	4	3	+1	5
3. (Qualified)	Paraguay	3	0	3	0	5	5	0	3
4	Ecuador	3	0	1	2	2	5	−3	1

Group C

Position	Team	Played	Win	Draw	Loss	GF	GA	GD	Point
1. (Qualified)	Chile	3	2	1	0	4	2	+2	7
2. (Qualified)	Uruguay	3	1	2	0	3	2	+1	5
3. (Qualified)	Peru	3	1	1	1	2	2	0	4
4	Mexico	3	0	0	3	1	4	−3	0

Knockout stage
Different from previous tournaments, in the knockout stage, 30 minutes of extra time were played if any match finished tied after regulation (previously the match would go straight to a penalty shoot-out). This was the first time in the history of the tournament where the knockout stage did not include any invited teams, as both Mexico and Costa Rica were eliminated during the group stage. Paraguay reached the final despite not having won a single match in the competition.

Copa America 2011 Quarter Final matches

Date	Team A	Result	Team B	Stadium
16 July 2011	Colombia	0 – 2 (a.e.t.)	Peru	Estadio Córdoba
16 July 2011	Argentina	1 – 1 (a.e.t.) 4 – 5 (penalties)	Uruguay	The Elephant Graveyard
17 July 2011	Brazil	0 – 0 (a.e.t.) 0 – 2 (penalties)	Paraguay	Estadio Único
17 July 2011	Chile	1 – 2	Venezuela	Estadio del Bicentenario

Copa America 2011 Semi Final matches

Date	Team A	Result	Team B	Stadium
19 July 2011	Peru	0 – 2	Uruguay	Estadio Único
20 July 2011	Paraguay	0 – 0 (a.e.t.) 5 – 3 (penalties)	Venezuela	Estadio Malvinas Argentinas

Third place play-off
23 July 2011 16:00, Estadio Único

Peru	4 – 1	Venezuela
Chiroque 41′ Guerrero 63′, 89′, 90+2′		Arango 77′

Copa America 2011 Final  match
24 July 2011 16:00, River Plate Stadium

Uruguay	3 – 0	Paraguay
Suárez 11′ Forlán 41′, 89′

Top Goal scorer list

Rank	Player	Team	Goals
1	Paolo Guerrero	Peru	5
2	Luis Suárez	Uruguay	4
3	Sergio Agüero	Argentina	3
4	Neymar	Brazil	2
5	Alexandre Pato	Brazil	2
6	Radamel Falcao	Colombia	2
7	Felipe Caicedo	Ecuador	2
8	Diego Forlán	Uruguay	2
9	Álvaro Pereira	Uruguay	2

Team of the Tournament
Manager of the Tournament: Óscar Tabárez

Goalkeeper	Defender	Midfielder	Forward
Justo Villar	Maxi Pereira	Diego Pérez	Diego Forlán
	Diego Lugano	Fredy Guarín	Luis Suárez
	Oswaldo Vizcarrondo	Marcelo Estigarribia	Paolo Guerrero
	Álvaro Pereira

Summary
Uruguay won the tournament by defeating Paraguay 3–0 in the final, securing a record 15th Copa América title and their first since 1995. Paraguay, as the runner-up, earned the Copa Bolivia; their performance was notable because they reached the finals without winning a single game in regulation time, relying on penalty shoot-outs to advance. Brazil, the defending champions, were eliminated by Paraguay in the quarter-finals after failing to convert any penalties. As the tournament champions, Uruguay earned the right to represent CONMEBOL in the 2013 FIFA Confederations Cup, held in Brazil. Despite losing 4–1 to Peru in the third-place match, Venezuela achieved their best ever performance in the tournament.

Copa America 2011 Venues

Competing Nations
Both Japan and Mexico were invited to join the CONMEBOL nations in the 2011 Copa América. However, following a UEFA proposal regarding national teams competing in tournaments organized by different confederations, it was reported on November 23, 2009, that Japan and Mexico might not be able to participate. On March 31, 2010, CONCACAF confirmed that Mexico would be allowed to send their 2012 U-23 Olympic Team, supplemented with five over-age players. In addition to Mexico sending a weaker team than in previous participations, eight of the originally selected Mexican players were suspended for indiscipline one week before the competition started. Japan’s participation was in doubt after the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami, but the Japan Football Association (JFA) confirmed on March 16, 2011, that they would participate. However, the JFA later withdrew from the tournament on April 4, 2011, citing scheduling conflicts with rescheduled J. League matches. After a meeting with the leadership of the Argentine Football Association, the JFA decided to delay their final decision until April 15. On April 14, the JFA announced that they would compete using mainly European-based players, but withdrew again on May 16 due to difficulties with European clubs releasing Japanese players. On the following day, CONMEBOL formally invited the Costa Rican Football Federation to replace Japan. Costa Rica accepted the invitation later that day.