Peru will look to carry on from their shock 3-0 win over Uruguay when they meet hosts Venezuela at the Estadio Polideportivo de Pueblo Nuevo in the city of San Cristobal for their second match in Group A.

Although one could also say that the Uruguayans did not play upto their potential in the first game, due credit must be given to the Peruvians. A brilliant setup corner resulted in the first goal going, and the two late goals from Merino and Guerrero sealed the game. Peru played good, effective football and sit at the top of Group A ahead of this game. A win here could assured them of a spot in the last eight of the tournament. Leao Butron was brilliant between in the posts in the first game. Acasiete and Villalta discharged their defensive responsibilities well. Villalta scored the first goal of the tournament, mind you. Peru can be dangerous with setpieces. The pace of Farfan and Pizarro could cause problems for the Venezuelan defence, which didn’t look very settled in the game against Bolivia. Pizarro, Guerrero and Rodriguez have a yellow to their name.

Venezuela, as hosts have pressure heaped upon them. A draw against Bolivia was not the best result for Richard Paez’s side, but a point is better than none. The Venezuelan defence was subject to constant attacks from the Bolivians and Jaime Moreno in particular. The second goal for Bolivia that Arce scored was thanks to some poor marking and slack defending, and they cannot afford mistakes like that. On the plus side, Maldonado’s goal was a beautiful one, and the crowds will be asking for more like those. Jose Manuel Rey and  Gabriel Cichero will have their work cut out at the back, for Peru are a formidable side. Arango will play a key role as playmaker, as he always has. Jorge Vargas is on a yellow, the sole Venezuelan to be booked in the clash against Bolivia.

A lot is at stake for both teams, especially the hosts. Venezuela have home support, but Peru will believe that they can beat them after upsetting Uruguay. Peru to nick this one- by a goal or two.

After a one day break, the Copa America resumes again as Bolivia take on Uruguay in a Group A match in San Cristobal. The match is very important from Uruguay’s point of view, for the 14 time Champions suffered an embarrassing 0-3 loss to Peru in their opening game of the tournament.

Uruguay, with the star studded lineup that they have, looked very ordinary against Peru. Most of their attacks came from the right where Fabian Estoyanoff played. Diego Forlan looked lost upfront without any proper support and barring a few shots, Uruguay didn’t really live up to their potential. Gordin and Lugano did a decent job in central defence, although the three goals do not appear to suggest that. They will welcome back Alvaro Recoba for this game, but he is expected to start on the bench. The Uruguyuan midfield consisting of Garcia, Canobbio and Perez wasn’t too effective. Oscar Tabarez is likely to ring in the changes. The likes of Andres Scotti and Maximilano Pereira might get a look in. Uruguay have many individually gifted players, but they need to connect to cause problems to the opposition.

Bolivia, on the other hand, will walk into this game full of confidence. They held hosts Venezuela to a 2-2 draw in their opening game, a game they probably deserved to win. They have only themselves to blame though- the goal which Paez scored was thanks to a horrible mistake by the Bolivian defence. Although Juan Carlos Arce ensured that they would walk away with one point rather than none, many Bolivian supporters would have felt that the game was theirs for the taking. Jaime Moreno was very impressive against Venezuela. He was a constant threat on the left flank, and scored an absolutely wonderful equalizer after Giancarlo Maldonado had given the hosts the lead. It will be interesting to see how he and Carlos Diogo match up. Mojica handled the set plays quite well, and could pose a threat with the dead ball..

For Bolivia, their confidence would have risen sky high after their performance on the first day. Uruguay will be keen to prove that their loss to Peru was a one off. A loss here could see them go back home. On paper, Uruguay are the favourites. But Bolivia have spirit and could draw or even cause an upset. Uruguay to narrowly edge this one 3-2. Forlan, Arce, Mojica and Sanchez to be the likely scorers.

14 time Copa America champions Argentina will begin their quest for their fifteenth title when they play the United States at the Estadio Jose Pachencho Romero in the city of Maracaibo in what will be the second game to be played in Group C

Having seen what has happened to both Uruguay and Brazil in their respective opening games, Argentine coach Alfio Basille will be constantly warning his players to guard against complacency. Argentina have not won the Copa in 16 years, although they were runners up in the last edition. This time around, the Albicelestes have brought a star studded team to the Copa, changing from their usual policy of sending youngsters to the tourney. Hernan Crespo will be playing his first Copa, and that tells you the story. The team is unarguably the best on paper, with Abbondanzeiri in goal and the likes of Javier Zanetti, Roberto Ayala and Gabriel Heinze in defence. Their midfield and attacking lineup names are amongst the best in the world, and the USA defenders will have their work cut out. Juan Roman Riquelme will be present in the centre of the park, orchestrating moves and pulling strings. Giving him company will be Juan Sebastian Veron and Javier Mascherano. With the pace and abilities of Tevez, Messi and Crespo upfront, goals are expected to be pumped in. Not just ordinary goals, but exquisite, crafted goals.

The United States did win the Gold Cup a few days ago by beating Mexico 2-1, but they are underdogs for this game. All their big European names are not there- Landon Donovan, Clint Dempsey, Tim Howard, Da Marcus Beasley and Brian Ching. The USA is one of the two invitees to this tournament, and coach Bob Bradley is viewing this tournament as an opportunity for their youngsters, most of whom ply their trade in the MLS, to gain some experience. It will be interesting to watch Benny Felhaiber, Gold Cup hero battling against Riquelme. Jimmy Conrad is the only experienced player in the USA defence and he needs to stand up and lead by example. That is easier said than done, given the strength of the Argentine strikeforce. Bradley is expected to play Eddie Johnson and Taylor Twellman upfront. With no disrespect to them, one isn’t too sure whether they will pose a serious challenge to the Argentine defence. The atmosphere is different, and playing against top class defenders will take some doing.

On paper,this is a mismatch, Argentina to win this soundly. But after watching what happened to Brazil and Uruguay, the USA might be even thinking of an upset. If Argentina play normally, I see no reason why they should not win. 3-0 to the Argentines with Tevez, Crespo and Riquelme on the scoresheet.

Monday the Milwaukee Brewers continued to play great baseball. They slammed the Houston Astros by a score of 6-1. But the win wasn’t quite as easy as you might think.

The Brewers got on the board and took the lead early when they scored a run in the bottom of the first and another two runs in the bottom of the third. But that’s as much as they would manage until much later in the game. Then when the Astros’ Carl Lee hit a solo home run in the top of the sixth, things got considerably closer at 3-1.

But with Ben Sheets on the mound for the Brew Crew and behind three more runs in the bottom of the eighth, the Brewers eventually earned a fairly easy victory. The Brewers still enjoy a 7.5 game lead in the National league Central.

That lead isn’t bigger because the Chicago Cubs are now on a bit of a hot streak themselves. The Cubs won their fourth straight on Monday and they did it in dramatic fashion.

The Cubs carried an 8-3 lead into the ninth inning against the Colorado Rockies. That’s when the Rockies exploded for six runs. Before the top of the ninth was over, the Cubs found themselves trailing 9-8 in a game they thought they had won.

But the Cubs, to their credit, didn’t hang their heads and just give-up. They also didn’t feel sorry for themselves. What they did do was go into the bottom of the ninth and put up two more runs to win the game 10-9. That could be a big step forward for the Cubbies.

Alfonso Soriano, coming off Player of the Week honors just last week, delivered the big two run single with two outs in the bottom of the ninth.

After all my talk about the Brewers being able to roll to the division title, maybe – just maybe – the Cubs will be able to provide some type of competition in the NL Central.

The last full-time starter took a loss on Monday. Jeremy Bonderman lost to the Texas Rangers on Monday. It was one inning that did him in. Bonderman gave-up four runs in the top of third inning. And it all happened with two outs. The Rangers won the game 8-4 because they scored four runs against the Tigers’ bullpen in the top of the ninth.

2004 Athens Olympics silver medalists Paraguay will play their first game in Group C when they meet Colombia at the Estadio Jose Pachencho Romero in the city of Maracaibo.

Paraguay, who last won the Copa America six years ago, know that this is a crucial match which could decide whether or not they directly progress from the group. The other teams in the group are Argentina, who have brought a star studded squad, and the United States, who are , for all practical purposes , a group of MLS players. They finished third in their group at the 2006 World Cup, and a lot of things have changed. Anibal Ruiz has made way for Gerardo Martino as coach. Two notable absentees from the World cup squad are veteran defender Carlos Gamarra, and playmaker forward Nelson Haeldo Valdez. Justo Villar will stand between the posts. With the retirement of Gamarra, Julio Caceres will have to assume the mantle of marshalling the defence. Paraguay might play a 3-4-3 to shore up their attack which hasn’t really fired in their last few games. They have scored two in their last five games, and you need to score to win. Roque Santa Cruz is easily their most potent player upfront and is expected to be supported by Cardozo and Cabanas. A 4-4-2 may also be on the cards, and in that case Cabanas might drop to the bench for the extra fullback to come in.

Colombia have a pretty decent team too. On paper, they are probably better than Paraguay. At the back, and in goal, they have tons of experience. Miguel Calero will don the gloves, and the pair of Mario Yepes and Ivan Cordoba lend an air of stability to their defence. Aquivaldo Masquera has been unable to make it to Venezuela after suffering a knee injury last week. Fabian Vargas and Jhon Viafara will have key roles to play in the centre of the park, and if they win the ball more often than not, Colombia could control the game. Hugo Rodallega and Edixon Perea can cause problems to opposition defenders with their pace. Rodallega, who plays for Monterrey, has been in disappointing form recently, but when on song, he can pose a serious threat with his dribbling ability.

This Copa America has thrown up many surprises so far. I expect Colombia to win this – by a goal or two. Paraguay might sneak a goal in, but I don’t see them taking three points from this. Perea and Viafera on the scoresheet, and Santa Cruz for the Paraguyuan team.

Apparently the Detroit Tigers have made a favorable impression on their National league opponents. During the Tigers back-to-back sweeps – their latest coming on Sunday over the Atlanta Braves – both the victims of the sweeps (the Braves and the Washington Nationals) said that the Tigers are by far the best team they’ve seen this year.

Of course the Tigers are helped out against the National league because their manager, Jim Leyland, managed for years in the NL. But the Tigers did look good in the last two series and they were both on the road. The Tigers pitched well, played good defense, and got timely hitting. Now they head back home to face the Texas Rangers.

Meanwhile, in San Diego there was a clash of titans on Sunday. Both the Boston Red Sox and the San Diego Padres had their aces on the mound. Josh Beckett was throwing for the Sox while Jake Peavey took the bump for the Padres.

This could be a preview to a game one in the World Series. Certainly, these two teams have looked like the class of each of their Leagues at times. And Beckett and Peavey have looked like the two best pitchers so far this season.

On Sunday Josh Beckett got the better of Jake Peavy. In the top of third inning, the Red Sox broke through and scored three runs off of Peavy. Those three runs would prove to be enough as the Padres could only manage two runs off of Beckett. Beckett pitched eight strong innings to earn the win.

Meanwhile, Peavy may have had his roughest outing of the year. He lasted only five innings and gave-up nine hits and those three runs. The Padres bullpen surrendered one more run and San Diego lost the game 4-2.

The Milwaukee Brewers saw their winning streak snapped as they lost in extra innings to the Kansas City Royals 4-3. It was a forgettable game for the Brewers as they blew a two run lead and committed three costly errors.

The Brewers will now take on the Houston Astros at home. They’ll have Ben Sheets on the mound for them. Sheets has been spectacular all season for the Brew Crew. So the Brewers will be looking to continue with the momentum they built before Sunday’s game.

The New York Yankees will have Monday off before taking on the lowly Baltimore Orioles. The Yankees lost a surprising two out of three games to the San Francisco Giants over the weekend. Now they get the worst team in the American league. This could be a perfect opportunity for the Yanks to start another winning streak or it could provide more evidence that the Yankees’ recent winning streak was just a fluke.