Penarol put an end to a seven-year wait for a title

Penarol won their first Uruguayan championship after seven years, despite being held to a 1-1 draw by arch-rivals Nacional in the second leg of the final at the Centenario stadium in Montevideo on Tuesday. Penarol’s 1-0 win over Nacional on Saturday gave them a superior 2-1 aggregate triumph in the two-legged finals series.

A 68th-minute strike from Matias Aguirregaray handed Diego Aguirre’s side the championship, during a tense encounter which had both sets of fans on the edge of their seats.

Nacional had gone ahead in the 35th minute when Alejandro Lembo connected to a Angel Morales corner-kick with a smart header which went in off a Penarol defender.

The goal seemed to boost Nacional’s confidence, as they trampled all over Penarol, as they went in search of a second goal.

In the second period Penarol picked up their game, and even if they lacked imagination when moving forward, in the 68th minute Sergio Orteman fed Aguirregaray with a perfect through ball and the midfielder sped into the area before beating Rodrigo Munoz with an accurate finish.

But with the introduction of strikers Sergio Blanco and Sebastian Balsas Nacional were much more threatening as an attacking unit, and completely dominated Penarol as they searched for a winning goal.

Los Tricolores piled heavy pressure on the Penarol goal — particulary after Gaston Ramirez reduced Penarol to ten-men in the 81st minute — but they couldn’t find a way past inspired Penarol goalkeeper Sebastian Sosa, who made a number of fine saves.

Three minutes from the final whistle Nacional came inches-close from winning the game, when in dramatic circumstances, first a Balsas header hit the cross-bar, and then a superb acrobatic effort from Sebastian Coates also hit the frame of the goal.

Saturday’s victory, with a header converted by Antonio Pacheco (the only Penarol player to have scored against Nacional in eight derbies), and today’s draw allowed Penarol to put an end to their seven-year wait for a title.

Pacheco made all of the difference in the derby

Penarol defeated Nacional 1-0 in the first of two finals to decide the Uruguayan national championship at the Centenario stadium in Montevideo on Saturday. Penarol edged Nacional with a first-half goal from Antonio Pacheco and are only a draw away from winning the title when the sides meet in the return leg on Tuesday.

In a match that was played with more emotion than football, with both teams finishing with nine-men a piece, veteran striker Pacheco made the difference with an early goal, that cancelled out Nacional’s 2-0 victory over Penarol mid-week — which put an end to Penarol’s 15-match unbeaten streak.

Due to the incidents that occured before, during and after that game, enormous security measures were implemented at the Centenario stadium. But only 30,000 fans turned up to the game because of limited transportation in Montevideo because of violence that led to a 24-hour strike from both bus and taxi companies — who purposely protested on match-day so that fewer fans could attend the game.

Like in the previous game the clash started with a frantic pace, with Pacheco putting Penarol ahead in the 23rd minute when he connected to a Alejandro Martinuccio cross with a fine header.

After the goal Penarol continued to be the stronger side when it came to attacking the Nacional goal, but they only took a narrow advantage into the break.

In the second period Nacional lifted their game, but although they came close to scoring, three goal-bound efforts were saved by Penarol goalkeeper Sebastian Sosa.

Four players were sent off — two from each team — in the final half hour of the game.

With only a draw on Tuesday, Penarol will win the Uruguayan championship after a long exodus.

Nacional players celebrate scoring against Penarol

Nacional defeated arch-rivals Penarol 2-0 in the final of the Uruguayan championship in front of over 60,000 fans at the Centenario stadium in Montevideo on Wednesday night. The result allowed Nacional to enter a two-legged play-off with Penarol to determine the champions of the Uruguayan first division for the 2009-10 season.

Los Tricolores won the match courtesy of two goals from striker Santiago Garcia — in the 13th and 59th minutes.

Penarol, who would have been crowned Uruguayan champions with the victory, started strongly, as they adopted an aggressive approach with the intention of taking Nacional by surprise with an early goal.

But it was Nacional who went ahead, when in the 13th minute Garcia controlled down a right-wing cross with his chest and poked the ball into the back of the net.

The defending champions sparked to life with the goal, and tried to play in Penarol’s half, as they searched for a second goal.

As the half progressed Penarol began to inflict on Nacional the kind of pressure that saw them end the Clausura championship unbeaten, and they came close to drawing level when a Martin Martinuccio header struck the crossbar.

After the break the game opened up, with both teams creating goal-scoring opportunities. Penarol captain Antonio Pacheco should have been awarded a penalty kick when he was impeded in the area by a Nacional defender, but match referee Jorge Larrionda waved play-on.

Nacional looked dangerous each time they moved forward, and it was fitting when Garcia doubled their advantage in the 59th minute when he found space inside of the area and fired the ball past Penarol goakeeper Sebastian Sosa.

Penarol couldn’t reproduce their exciting attacking game from the Clausura, as it was Nacional who came closer to further extending their lead.

With the win, Nacional forced a two-legged play-off series with Penarol, with the first leg scheduled for Saturday.

Nacional & Penarol will decide the Uruguayan title

South American heavyweights Nacional and Penarol — Uruguay’s two most successful clubs — will meet in the latest edition of the Uruguayan “clasico” to decide the league title at the Centenario stadium in Montevideo on Wednesday night. With tickets sold out for the clash there’s great expectation in the Uruguayan capital.

Penarol, recently crowned champions of the Uruguayan Clausura championship which concluded two weeks ago, are the favourites to clinch the title due to remaining unbeaten all season. The only team Penarol couldn’t beat was Nacional — the derby ended in a goalless draw.

With a win on Wednesday Penarol will claim the title, however, Nacional will have to beat Penarol to force two further matches. Nacional earned their place in the final after winning the Apertura championship last year.

Wednesday’s match will need to have a winner, and in the case that it ends all square two halves of extra-time will be played. But if still tied, the final will be decided by penalty kicks.

If Penarol win they will claim their first Uruguayan championship in six seasons.

There’s great expectation ahead of the final with all 53,000 tickets available to the general public already sold. A crowd of over 60,000 is expected at the legendary Centenario stadium.

The kick-off time for the match is 20:30, with the designated match referee being Jorge Larrionda.

Gregory Sica

Southamericanfutbol.com

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Penarol plan to build a 40,000 capacity stadium

Directors of Uruguayan champions Penarol are looking at the possibility of constructing a new 40,000 capacity stadium. During a reunion with Saceem, the company which will likely build the stadium, there was talk that the stadium will be located in Canelones, in the place of the old International Airport of Carrasco.

However, it is unknown whether Penarol will finally decide to move away from Montevideo, the capital city of Uruguay where they have played at for their entire history.

Edgar Welker, the vice-president of Penarol, affirmed that the location of the new stadium will be determined in between 60 and 90 days, and that for now the planned capacity for the stadium will be for 40,000 fans.

Penarol claimed the Uruguayan Clausura championship this season, with an average crowd that would ensure sold out stadiums at the new venue.

The Centenario stadium — where Penarol currently play their home matches — is owned by the Uruguayan government, and fits up to 75,000 people.

Gregory Sica

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Recently crowned Clausura champions Penarol were held to a frustrating goalless draw by Nacional in the highly anticipated Uruguayan clasico on Sunday. Despite a capacity crowd of 65,000 at the Centenario stadium, neither team could break each other down and had to settle for a share of the spoils. With the point Nacional put an abrupt end to Penarol’s twelve-match winning streak.

The first half was played at a rapid pace with both teams creating clear-cut goal-scoring opportunities. Despite the rainy conditions and the difficult surface Penarol managed to play their normal game, and they pushed forward in large numbers searching for the opening goal.

However, Nacional were extremely solid in defense, and while they absorbed everything that Penarol threw at them they looked dangerous each time they moved forward to the attack.

Los Tricolores almost went ahead in the 17th minute when Maximiliano Calzada fed Sergio Blanco, but the striker couldn’t beat Penarol goalkeeper Sebastian Sosa.

Midfielder Jonathan Urretaviscaya countered for Penarol, with his fine effort coming off the woodwork.

Antonio Pacheco, the leading scorer of the championship, tried his best to get the better of the Nacional defense, however, his aggressive approach did little to usettle them.

Unfortunately for the huge crowd, the second half was a shadow of the first as neither side managed to demonstrate the necessary determination to claim the victory.

Instead it was a stiff battle in the midfield, which is typical of the encounters between both sides. But on this occasion neither side did enough to threaten the opposing goal, even if both coaches modfied their tactics in order to win the match.

Penarol, who clinched the Clausura championship after beating Fenix last weekend, now haven’t beaten their traditional rivals since 2008.

Nacional will now focus on their final Copa Libertadores fixture with Morelia of Mexico on Wednesday night. With a victory Nacional will qualify for the round of 16 stage of the competition.

Gregory Sica

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Oscar Washington Tabarez, the coach of the Uruguayan national team, affirmed to the press that his side could be the surprise package of the World Cup, even if they face a difficult group where they will meet hosts South Africa, France and Mexico. Uruguay count with a solid squad, and this is much of the reason why Tabarez rates his team’s chances highly.

“There are always surprises in the World Cup, in all of them. I believe that we can be that surprise team. And if we are, we will have something that other surprise teams lacked: history which Uruguayans created, and we should speak to those champions [about their experiences],” said Tabarez.

The coach stated that Uruguay have the necessary firepower to be the revelation team of the tournament, with players of the caliber of Diego Forlan, Luis Suarez and Diego Godin.

“We have players who are participating in important leagues, playing alongside players who belong to the elite national teams.We have to prepare ourselves in the best possible manner to reach the level of those teams, and we have hope about achieving it.”

In reference to Uruguay’s group, Tabarez explained that it will be very open, with all four teams having identical chances of advancing to the round of 16 stage.

“All of the teams have the potential to advance but can be eliminated as well, that is the characteristic that I see in this group, that can’t be said about the other groups.”

Uruguay were eliminated in the group phase of the 2002 World Cup that was staged in Japan and South Korea, after a loss to Denmark and draws with France and Senegal.

Gregory Sica

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Penarol came from behind to defeat Fenix 2-1 on Saturday, a result that clinched them the Uruguayan Clausura Championship. The partisan crowd of 50,000 at the Centenario stadium withstood an early scare and ended up celebrating a title triumph and Penarol’s twelfth consecutive victory of the season. The club will be hoping to continue with their celebrations when they take on arch-rivals Nacional next weekend.

Fenix took a surprise lead in the 6th minute when Matias Mier latched onto a good through ball with a precise finish past Penarol goalkeeper Sebastian Sosa.

But Penarol drew level in the 18th minute when Argentine striker Alejandro Martinuccio slotted the ball home from close range after a series of rebounds in the Fenix area.

Midfielder Jonathan Urretaviscaya handed Penarol the victory and essentially the title when he fired the ball past Fenix goalkeeper Danilo Lerda in the 47th minute.

When Marcelo Sosa reduced Penarol to ten-men in the 73rd minute Fenix stepped up a gear as they searched for an equaliser. But Penarol stood firm in defense, and even came close to further extending their advantage.

Fernando Ruocco was sent off for Fenix in the 84th minute for his second bookable offense, even if he had only entered the field four minutes earlier.

In other matches, Cerro Largo drew 2-2 with River Plate and Tacuarembo beat Racing 2-0.

Gregory Sica

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Uruguayan giants Penarol will be looking for a victory against Fenix on Saturday that would hand them the Clausura championship. Penarol have won all eleven of their matches this season, and will be searching for their twelfth win against second-placed Fenix. A crowd of approximately 55,000 will await the Carboneros at the legendary Centenario stadium in Montevideo.

Penarol come into the match with 33 points from eleven matches, having scored an average of three goals per match. Last weekend Penarol beat Cerrito 3-1 at the Centenario stadium.

Diego Aguirre, the coach of Penarol, will make two changes to his side. In will come Gerardo Alcoba for Alejandro Gonzalez, and Egidio Arevalo Rios will be given a rest so that he doesn’t accumulate a fifth red card that would see him miss the clasico with Nacional due to suspension. His position will be occupied by Marcelo Sosa.

Fenix come into the match as the revelation of the tournament. They are in second position, seven points behind Penarol, and still with chances of winning the title. After eleven rounds they have won eight matches, drawn two and have only suffered one defeat. Last week Fenix beat Danubio 2-1.

Jorge Larrionda will be in charge of the match, which kicks off at 4pm at the Centenario stadium.

Gregory Sica

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Uruguayan giants Penarol are just one win away from securing the Clausura championship after beating Cerrito 3-1 at the Centenario stadium in Montevideo on Sunday. It was Penarol´s eleventh consecutive victory of the season, a remarkable achievement for Uruguay´s most popular club. Penarol will win the league if they overcome Fenix next week.

Diego Aguirre´s side didn´t allow Cerrito any time to find their ryhthm, with Argentine striker Martin Martinuccio putting them ahead in the 6th minute after a quick counterattack.

Cerrito went looking for an equaliser and were rewarded for their persistence, with a penalty kick in the 33rd minute. Former Penarol attacker Alberto Acosta made no mistake from the spot.

But Cerrito´s joy lasted shortly, as Antonio Pacheco, the league´s leading scorer, put Penarol in the lead for a second time just one minute later.

Penarol completely dominated the second half, and created several opportunities to extend their advantage.

Substitute Diego Alonso sealed the three points for Penarol in second half injury-time.

If Penarol beat second-placed Fenix next week they will clinch the championship, one week before facing arch-rivals Nacional in the Uruguayan clasico. Fenix came from behind to edge Danubio 2-1 on Saturday.

Nacional, Uruguay´s other big club, fell to an unexpected 1-0 defeat to Rampla Juniors. Despite playing with an extra-man from the 40th minute Nacional lacked ideas in the attack, and practically handed the title to Penarol.

In other matches, Cerro beat Liverpool 5-1, Wanderers thrashed Cerro Largo 7-1 and River Plate defeated Tacuarembo 3-1.

Gregory Sica

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