Lots of news! 7/16/11.

First off, the third place match of the Women's World Cup in Germany. In it, Sweden and France faced off for the first, and least, of the medals. And? Well Sweden struck first in the 29th minute through Lotta Schelin to get things going before the half. Elodie Thomis was the woman who equalized for France though, in the 56th minute, to the delight of the French supporters.Things were very tense following the equalizer, with both sides having opportunities. Nothing was converted though. Nothing, that is, until the 82nd minute. Then, Marie Hammarstrom settled the ball and unleashed an absolute rocket into the top left corner of the net, just out of reach of France's goalie, Celine Deville. This after Sweden were brought down to 10 men by the sending-off of Josefine Oqvist in the 68th minute. The game stood thus as the full-time whistle blew, 2-1 in Sweden's favor. Meanwhile, in the Copa America competition, Colombia were shocked 2-0 by Peru earlier today despite the favored Colombian side getting off to a better start, and proceeding to waste all their chances. Falcao slotted his spot-kick wide of the goal, Dayro Moreno and Fredy Guarin had their chances for Colombia as well. Peru had their chances too though, with the Colombian goalkeeper (Luis Martinez) having to be at his best to deny Vargas and William Chiroque among others. And so, the game reached the end of regulation time with the two sides level 0-0. You just got the feeling that it would be down to who faltered first to decide the match. And so it happened, in the 101st minute that Colombia's goalie Martinez made a mistake and Carlos Augusto Lobaton struck from inside the penalty area to give Peru a 1-0 advantage. The result was only to be confirmed by Juan Manuel Vargas' 111th minute goal from the penalty spot. Over in the other quarter-final of today, Argentina played Uruguay. It ended in penalties after both regulation and extra time ended 1-1 with both sides having chances to go ahead, but neither side taking them. So, to penalties. Well, Messi and Forlan both converted, and 7 other goals followed. However, you'll notice that doesn't add up to 10. That's right, Uruguay converted all 5 of their chances while Argentina were left 1 shy. The Uruguayan goalkeeper Fernando Muslera was able to save one, and that knocks Argentina out of the competition, a big blow to the nation that is hosting the competition. Thus, it sets up a semi-final clash  between Peru and Uruguay. Tomorrow we have more from both of these competitions with the Final of the Women's World Cup and more Quarter-final action in the Copa America. Enjoy!