Copa Dope - Conspiracy! Partido Dos

OK class. Hands up if you think that La Vinotinto were denied a late penalty because of a vast CIA conspiracy to discredit and embarrass a certain Venezuelan nabob? No, no Hugo, you don't get to vote in this one - we already know what you think. OK, now hands up if you think that Blatter's evil minions were whispering in some ears to throw Bolivia a bone now that they've been banned from playing international matches at altitude?

(crickets)

United captain Jaime Moreno looked pretty good for about 55-60 minutes for Bolivia, forcing an own goal by the Venezuelans and generally doing his best jaguar impression, stalking about the park with the ball and making deft little flicks and dangerous runs. Much like his current performances for United, I felt that he often held the ball too long and overcooked the chances (fair play to Jaime, I thought he'd made one move too many on the goal as well), though he did on occasion look to shoot, and even tried one from outside the box (shock, gasp, the devil you say!).

The player that interested me the most, both as a United fan and a fullback, was Venezuelan left back Jorge Rojas, who probably should have drawn a penalty at the death. The intar-webs tell me that he plays for Colombian side América de Cali, but I wonder if he'd be interested in moving to the US anytime soon? Specifically to the DC area, as I know a certain team that could use a decent left back right about now.

All in all, an interesting match. I thought that Bolivia played some neat stuff, with quick touches and good passing movements, while Venezuela were content to let them play and then hit them hard on the counter with speed and incisive passing. With Peru bitch-slapping Uruguay in the first match, Group A is pretty wide open right now, though I think that both Venezuela and Bolivia will look upon this match as the one in which they needed to get all 3 points in order to advance.