influential defender has been banned for three
matches for his cheeky poke on Edinson Cavani
By Peter Staunton in Santiago
Gonzalo Jara poked his way to infamy against
Uruguay in the Copa America quarter-final last
Wednesday. His provocation of Edinson Cavani
earned the long-haired forward a red card but the
referee failed to take action against the Chile
defender.
Cavani's backside have been prominent in the
capital all week along; they were splashed across
the newspapers and television screens as Chile
waited to discover his fate. Some people laugh
about it, some despair at his act.
His club, Mainz 05, in the Bundesliga have scalded
him for the play-acting which followed Cavani's
slap to the face in response to the assault.
Previous evidence of his gamesmanship in
matches against Uruguay have been dredged up
and replayed. Former Uruguay defender Diego
Lugano threatened to have a "talk" with him after
the tournament.
Conmebol's ban of three matches, therefore, rightly
ends the 29-year-old's tournament. That he has
been disciplined at all is a surprise given the
relatively straightforward path hosts Chile have
been given at the competition.
They are based in Santiago at their own Juan Pinto
Duran training complex and have played
exclusively at their home stadium, the Estadio
Nacional, while rivals have been moved about.
Argentina, for example, will not have the
opportunity to play in the capital until the final and
are preparing for their semi-final against Paraguay
in Concepcion in the south of the country after a
group stage which saw them play in La Serena in
the north. The scheduling has also been kind for
Chile.
Their games have been nicely spread, affording
them additional recovery time between fixtures.
They played last Wednesday and have had almost
a full week to prepare for Peru. Paraguay, by
contrast, played Saturday night against Brazil in
Concepcion and are in action again there on
Tuesday.
There have, then, been only two incidents to
threaten Chile's progress through the rounds and
both were self-inflicted. Arturo Vidal's drunken
Ferrari smash might not have cost his place in the
squad, which was initially expected, but there is no
denying that his output in his two games after his
arrest was diminished. There is no longer the
intensity in the Juventus man like there was in the
first two games. The matches against Bolivia and
Uruguay passed him by.
Chile's efforts at winning the cup are being
undermined only by their recurring habit of
shooting themselves in the foot. They gave up
some terrible goals in the 3-3 draw with Mexico
and have a tendency to produce inexplicable
moments of poor defending. Moreover, gaps can
appear seemingly from nowhere for opposition
teams to create chances. For the hopes of a
nation, coach Jorge Sampaoli better hope that self
sabotage does not further transmit to the field of
play.
This has been the most high-profile week of Jara's
career, and his team will miss him regardless of
his lack of sporting character. He is among Chile's
most consistent players and is the only natural
central defender in the team.
"We are looking at alternatives - either man for
man or systematic," said Sampaoli. "To replace an
important player would be difficult but our
obligation is to have all the players ready when
called upon to play."
Jara is part of the core of Chile players which have
grown together and which are peaking at this
tournament. He along with Claudio Bravo, Medel
and Alexis Sanchez are four of the five most-
capped players in Chile's history and while the
country has produced great players like Leonel
Sanchez, Elias Figueroa, Ivan Zamorano and
Marcelo Salas, it has never produced a team this
good with players at Europe's best clubs like
Juventus, Barcelona, Arsenal and Inter.
Peru have a talented crop themselves in Christian
Cueva, Jefferson Farfan, Claudio Pizarro and man
of the moment Paolo Guerrero, who scored a fine
hat-trick against Bolivia in the quarter-finals. While
Chile are indeed on the generous side of the draw,
Peru's form should be enough to keep Sampaoli
alert.
"We will face a team that is confident and which
has a stronger attacking game than Uruguay," said
the Chile coach. "The opponents which we have to
face are playing well and are doing well against
strong teams."
Chile have never once in the 99-year history of the
Copa finished as winners. Given their prominence
as a fine football nation, that is something of an
anomaly. Now they have the chance to correct
matters, on home soil, in their first semi-final
since 1999, with their best-ever squad. The stars
are aligning for Chile; if only they could stop trying
to mess it up for themselves.
No comments:
Post a Comment