Peru - Know Thy Enemy

[BrennanFan]

- A horrible South Africa 2010 campaign led by a horribly inexperienced domestic coach.

- An underfunded and corrupt Association that is slowly starting to be less inept.

- A skilled yet incredibly unreliable team that always seems to underachieve.

- Red and white uniforms.

The above applies to both Canada and Peru. Both of these teams need a fresh start. Both want to win at our NSS badly. Let's see how these teams stack up against one another.

Coaching:

Peru, actually, is heading into this game with much more confidence than usual, and most of that is centered on their new coach, Sergio Markarian. This will be Markarian's first game leading Peru. It is not often that Peru has a good coach but they do now. Markarian is experienced and respected all over South America. Aside from successes in various leagues as well as the Copa Libertadores, Markarian most famously led Paraguay to the World Cup in 2002. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sergio_Markari%C3%A1n

Conversely, Stephen Hart has never won a trophy in his life nor has he qualified us for any major tournaments. But the Canadian players like him and perhaps we should have won the Gold Cup in 2007. Anyway he is better than Mitchell so its a step up for us. But he's not in the same league as the above mentioned. Not even close.

Keepers:

Peru's #1 Leao Butron has not been called for this friendly. This is a huge loss for them as the drop off in keeper quality will be significant. Raul Fernandez and/or Salomón Libman are good young keepers and will be hungry to replace the aging Butron, but they are nothing too special.

Lars is Lars, he can be amazing at times as well as average. Assuming he starts and plays well, we have the advantage.

Centre Defence:

Alberto Rodriguez, who just helped SC Braga make the Champions League for the first time ever will thankfully not be playing. Instead we get Santiago Acasiete, from UD Almeria in La Liga. He is old but still excellent. He will be partnered by the young Carlos Zambrano who is playing for St. Pauli in the Bundesliga this year. This kid is what David Edgar would have been if he had lived up to his own hype. Except faster.

Who will start for us at the back? Nana I suppose. With Jakovic or McKenna. While I believe these guys may be good enough to get us to the World Cup out of CONCACAF, they will have a tough time dealing with Peru's attackers. We shall see how they do. But the edge goes to Peru here.

Right Back:

This has been a problem position for Peru for years. I really don't know who the new coach will slot in for this game. Maybe Galliquio, who sucks. I'll ask my brother, but it won't be anybody very good so it doesn't matter.

Stalteri will play and get his Cap record. This guy has been on a decline for what seems like a very long time, but hopefully he can bring it one more time at home. We get the advantage here.

Left Back:

If anyone reading this has not heard of Juan Vargas of Fiorentina please stop reading and

Click here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=35BxlBLoZ5Q

And here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oxZmcfkGMhM&feature=related

Ok? This guy is the best South American left back in the game today, and is by far Peru's best player. He may play left mid in more of a winger role, in which case we're really screwed. He plays mostly mid in Italy but has always played at the back for Peru - but that's never stopped him from being Peru's most dangerous attacker. He is all class and he will have a field day against Stalteri.

Klukowski would have been nice, but he's no Vargas. Marcel De Jong? He's good. Really good. Plays in Bundesliga 2 now right? Good luck kid. Advantage Peru.

Central Mid:

Again, this has been a problem area for Peru for a while. However, Peru has a young kid, Josepmir Ballon, who has recently won the starting job at holding mid at some Argentinian club called River Plate.

Whenever De Guzman plays, I have hope that we can be competitive against any team. He will need to focus on defense for us to have a chance. Maybe Hutchinson will be paired with him as a second holding mids, which may be the smart thing to do. On paper we are stronger at centre mid, but we are going to get stretched like crazy, De Guzman will have to put out fires all over the pitch.

Right Wing:

Right sided attackers for Peru include Schalke's Farfan, who is a proven and reliable goal scorer in the Bundesliga. Speed and power, etc. He will be hungry to play and score for Peru after being suspended by the Peruvian Federation for all of Qualifying for South Africa. This is his first game back with the national squad in a long time. Also on the right we have Guizasola, an up and coming winger playing for Rosario Central in Argentina.

For Canada on the right side of midfield I assume we will have Will Johnson. A good player who needs to step it up. Its time for him to prove he can really play and contribute at the international level and be one of our best. Time is now Will. Advantage to Peru if Farfan plays right wing and not up top as striker. Advantage Canada if he doesn't.

Left Wing:

Reimond Manco is Peru's next big thing. He won the Golden ball as the best player in the South American U17 qualifying tourny and was named as one of the top 25 players at the U17 World Cup. PSV paid the highest transfer fee ever for a Peruvian player when they bought him on a 5 year deal in 2008. However, he got injured and got loaned back to a club in Peru last year. He is set to return to PSV for January. He's been hyped up to the max, and now its time for him to put up or shut up. Here's some of his play at the Libertadores Cup last year:

He may start on the bench though, in which case Peru might have Vargas or Aguirre on the left. All 3 will trouble our back line all day.

DeRosario, in my view, always played better for us on the wing instead of up the middle. His attempt at being our #10 in Qualifying was an utter disaster. But we all know he can score if given half a chance and he will have something to prove with the game on his home field. A very slight advantage to Canada assuming DeRosario plays the best game he's played for us in years.

Striker:

Hamburg's Paolo Guerrero, Peru's most dangerous option up front, will not play. Most likely, Werder Bremen's Claudio Pizarro will also not play due to injury. As a result, Farfan will likely play up top. Peru's other options are Aguirre, who scored some great goals in last year's Copa Libertadores. He plays for San Luis in Mexico now. As well as Jose Fernandez, who plays in Ecuador. They also have a big, tall Rob Friend type player, Rengifo, who will likely not play.

Perennial underachiever (for the CMNT) Rob Friend is now our central figure at striker following Ali Gerba being screwed by the powers-that-be at TFC. Too bad, as we could have used a goal scorer in this game. In any event, Friend, on paper, is good, or at least good enough to make an impact in this game. His height should throw the Peruvian defenders off their game. Hume and Jackson are also great options to partner Friend. Advantage Canada.

Conclusion:

In a way, this should be a close game. Or at least it could be. If I had to merge these teams, my lineup would look like this:

G: Hirschfeld

D: Stalteri-Zambrano-Acasiete-Vargas

M: Farfan-deGuz-Hutchinson-Manco

F: Friend-DeRosario

That's 6 Canadians and 5 Peruvians. The difference is that Peru's best players are much better than Canada's best players. And also Peru's best players know how to put the ball in the net. Not to mention that all of the Peruvian players will be fired up to impress their brand new coach.

Had Julian deGuzman, Hutchinson, and DeRosario stayed with their clubs, and had all of Peru's strikers been available, I would have predicted a 4-nil thrashing by Peru. As the situation stands, I'm predicting a 2-1 win for Peru. But I'm hoping for a Canada win.

Peru's Squad:

1.- Rengifo Trigoso, Hernan - Ac Omonia Nicosia

2.- Ballon Villacorta, Josepmir Aaron - Club Atletico River Plate

3.- Guizasola La Rosa, Roberto Carlos - Club Atletico Rosario Central

4.- Zambrano Ochandarte, Carlos Augusto - Fc Sankt Pauli

5.- Farfán Guadalupe, Jefferson Agustin - Fc Gelsenkirchen-Schalke 04

6.- Pizarro Bosio, Claudio Miguel - Sv Werder Bremen

7.- Fernández Piedra, Jose Carlos - Sociedad Deportivo Quito

8.- Vargas Risco, Juan Manuel - Acf Fiorentina

9.- Aguirre Vásquez, Wilmer Alexander - San Luis Futbol Club

10.- Acasiete Ariadela, Wilmer Santiago - Union Deportiva Almeria Sad

11.- Rodríguez Valdelomar, Alberto Junior - Sporting Clube De Braga

And from Peru's Domestic League:

12. Raúl Fernández (Universitario)

13. Salomón Libman (Alianza Lima)

14. Jesús Rabanal (Universitario)

15. Walter Vílchez (Alianza Lima)

16. Antonio Gonzales (Universitario)

17. Rainer Torres (Universitario)

18. Luis Ramírez (Universitario)

19. Reimond Manco (Juan Aurich)

20. Luis Advíncula (Sporting Cristal)

21. Jean Tragodara (Alianza Lima)

22. John Galliquio (Universitario)

[Grizzly]

Excellent analysis BrennanFan. Thanks. (I know if Brennan were playing you would have predicted 4:0 Canada )

[rick10]

Pizarro , guerrero , rodriguez and butron are not playing against canada ... All of them starters

Now peru is left with not man upfront , since the only two threads were pizarro and guerrero. I believe the guy fernandez may replace them but he is nowhere near the level of guerrero and pizarro.....

[rick10]

-

Conclusion:

In a way, this should be a close game. Or at least it could be. If I had to merge these teams, my lineup would look like this:

G: Hirschfeld

D: Stalteri-Zambrano-Acasiete-Vargas

M: Farfan-deGuz-Hutchinson-Manco

F: Friend-DeRosario

.

Sorry brennan by there is not way de guzman is better than ballon

And this is coming from a big Julian fan , I even know the guy personally as his coach ( youth) was a peruvian who used to play soccer in the peruvian league and he coach me when i was young . David guzmans dad used to coach julian when he was younger ..

Lately de guzman has gone downhill , he is not the player that used to play in la liga. He is slower , he doesnt defend as well and his ball distribution leaves a lot to be desire. Very sad as he used to be one of my favorite players in the canadian national team ....

I ll take ballon over de guzman in a heart beat.

Other than that you are pretty much spot on ....

However I would argue that guizazola as a right back is faster and better than stalteri now ( no better than stalteri in his prime) ... Too bad the kid sign for a second division club in argentina when he had offers from mexico . No wonder everyone in peru calls him stupid for doing that

[zeelaw]

great work and a fun read to get even more pumped for the match

[redhat]

Great analysis, Martin. Now if only Hart and the CSA are paying some attention to this thread ...

Reminded me of the time Canada went to Spain for a friendly and Dale Mitchell had no clue about some of the Spanish players Jeffrey (who was covering the match for the Voyageurs) was talking about. Hard to win any match with poor scouting and on-the-fly (more like guessing) prepwork.

[masster]

Thanks for info. As a Fiorentina fan, I am well aware of Vargas. We may be a little pissed after his red card this weekend.

[Admin]

Great stuff BrennanFan

[Sébastien]

Great read. I will surely share it with my friends who are coming up to the game.

[mminga]

good article martin, el comercio one of the leading newspapers in the Peru has this line up in a 4-4-2.

Raúl Fernández

Roberto Guizasola - Carlos Zambrano - Santiago Acasiete - Walter Vílchez

Jefferson Farfán- Josepmir Ballón - Luis Ramírez - Juan Manuel Vargas

José Carlos Fernández - Wilmer Aguirre.

http://elcomercio.pe/noticia/631893/markarian-dio-equipo-que-enfrentara-este-sabado-canada

[marktci]

good article martin, el comercio one of the leading newspapers in the Peru has this line up in a 4-4-2.

Raúl Fernández

Roberto Guizasola - Carlos Zambrano - Santiago Acasiete - Walter Vílchez

Jefferson Farfán- Josepmir Ballón - Luis Ramírez - Juan Manuel Vargas

José Carlos Fernández - Wilmer Aguirre.

http://elcomercio.pe/noticia/631893/markarian-dio-equipo-que-enfrentara-este-sabado-canada

I know it's silly and simpleminded, but I keep imagining the Cubs' Carlos Zambrano in central defence for Peru (and really liking our chances).

[Fort York Redcoat1555362293]

Great write-up BF! CAn't wait for Sat.! See ya then!

[jc_nunezst]

I am from Peru and I am very excite about the game. I have gotten my Canadian residence and hopefully will be there for 2013 and hopefully attend the qualifying WC matches.

It may be weird but my love for Canada started when I was 14 in 1996, IDK why I suddenly dreamt about wanting to live in Canada. I was always a GK and dreamt to be become Canadian and play for the Canucks…However I am away from soccer but support the Canadian Team as a Canadian myself. I was the most happy Peruvian in the Gold Cup 2000. Maybe stupidly, but I have bought the PS soccer games and created Canadian rosters since 1998 (FIFA, winning 11, PES). I remember admiring Criag Forrest carlo Corazzin, Alex Bunbury, suffering the WC eliminations… Creating my own squads…. I found it funny to know about more Canadian players than some candian themselves.. I used to get to chatrooms and talk about soccer. Many ppl were surprised I knew about Canadian players…

I really would like Canada to win this Saturday, cause they deserve it as a team, because I am sick of hearing ppl say Canada does not play football and are mediocre..I do not agree.. they do play well, but aren’t a cohesive team and mediocre is not the term, is just lack of experience…

Sorry for my not so good English, … My score this Saturday. Canada 3- peru 1 (Hume, De Ro and McKeena. Vargas for Peru)

Best regards

Juan Carlos Nunez

[Soju]

Good...very good...can we somehow clone you?

[I_AM_CANADIAN]

Vargas is a god. So glad he stayed at Fiorentina this year. Should be a tough match, in any case.

[grigorio]

Touching... Nice to hear, welcome to the forum!

[jc_nunezst]

Touching... Nice to hear, welcome to the forum!

Thanx, really hope canada win...

[jc_nunezst]

Peru´s coach, Markarin has said that they are gonna play like it was a championship match. he says that Canada is a team that they can use to up their morale...

My answer is, like fans say in wrestling in wrestling... De Ro is gonna kill you!! De Ro is gonna kill you!!

or.. shut the F*** up! (clap calp clap)

[entrenador]

Peru´s coach, Markarin has said that they are gonna play like it was a championship match. he says that Canada is a team that they can use to up their morale...

My answer is, like fans say in wrestling in wrestling... De Ro is gonna kill you!! De Ro is gonna kill you!!

or.. shut the F*** up! (clap calp clap)

Did he kill him?

[Fort York Redcoat1555362293]

Welcome jc. Regardless of the result it's great to have you on board.

[jc_nunezst]

Thanx, i am supporting canada and i would like to contribute in any way or fashion...I will be in montreal next june, so i really hope they have a friendly game there

[JamboAl]

Thanx, i am supporting canada and i would like to contribute in any way or fashion...I will be in montreal next june, so i really hope they have a friendly game there

Welcome to the Voyageurs. Even if there is a game that is not in Montreal, please come and join us. You can still support Peru (or whoever) as long as you are there for Canada when it's time.