Uruguay become Champions during Argentina 2011

• The Uruguayan national team were crowned champion of CONMEBOL Copa América 2011™ in Argentina.
• They conquered their fifteenth continental title.

Argentina hosted CONMEBOL Copa América™ for the ninth time in 2011, a record in the competition to date, with eight cities and stadiums across the country as venues and the Estadio Monumental de River Plate as the stage for the Final.

The ten national teams of CONMEBOL participated: Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, Paraguay, Peru, Uruguay, and Venezuela, with two invited teams from Concacaf: Costa Rica and Mexico.

Uruguay was crowned champion after a 3-0 victory over Paraguay in the Final. This was Uruguay’s fifteenth title in the competition, the highest number of titles at that time, which would only be matched by Argentina in 2021.

The team led by ‘Maestro’ Tabárez, who began his tenure in 2006 and reached the Semifinals of the FIFA World Cup South Africa 2010, was experiencing a golden era.The team consisted of players such as Fernando Muslera defending the goal, Diego Lugano, Diego Godín, Álvaro Pereira, and an enviable forward line with Suárez, Cavani, and Forlán, the recent top scorer of the World Cup.

Luis Suárez and Diego Forlán were the top scorers for La Celeste, scoring six goals between them to help give the Uruguayan team the title. In the Final against Paraguay, ‘Cachavacha’ scored two and ‘Pistolero’ scored one.

Paraguay reached the Final of CONMEBOL Copa América 2011™ without winning a single match. In the Group Stage, they drew all their matches and qualified for the Quarterfinals as the best third-placed team. In the next stage, they eliminated Brazil and in the Semifinals, Venezuela, winning both stages in penalty shootouts.

A total of 54 goals were scored in 26 matches, with an average of 2.08 goals per game. Paolo Guerrero was the top scorer of the tournament, scoring five goals for the Peruvian team.

 

Uruguay’s Path to the Title

 

Group Stage

Uruguay 1-1 Peru

• URU goal: Luis Suárez (45’)
• PER goal: Paolo Guerrero (23’)

Uruguay 1-1 Chile

• URU goal: Álvaro Pereira (53’)
• CHI goal: Alexis Sánchez (64’)

Uruguay 1-0 Mexico

• URU goal: Álvaro Pereira (14’)

 

Final Stage

Argentina (4) 1-1 (5) Uruguay – Quarterfinals

• ARG goal: Gonzalo Higuaín (17’)
• URU goal: Diego Pérez (5’)

Peru 0-2 Uruguay – Semifinals

• URU goals: Luis Suárez (52’ and 57’)

Uruguay 3-0 Paraguay – Final

• URU goals: Luis Suárez (11’), Diego Forlán (41’ and 89’)

 

CONMEBOL.com / OPTA