Living in Peru : your everyday companion

Peru's Sofia Mulanovich ranked second in the 2008 Billabong Girls Pro Rio, held in Brazil, after being defeated in the Final by Hawaiian Melanie Bartels

Event No. 4 of 8 on the 2008 ASP Women's World Tour, the Billabong Girls Pro Rio survived through a grueling five-day lay period to culminate in excellent conditions today, with the ASP Top 17 putting in some of the best performances in ASP history.

Bartels, with a lot of confidence after defeating the reigning ASP Women's World Champion, Stephanie Gilmore, during the Semifinals, took down Mulanovich in the Final thanks to two good waves (6.67 and 7.67).

Mulanovich, who solidifies her position at No. 2 on the ASP Women's World Tour ratings with today's runner up finish, couldn't find the scoring waves in the Final.

Bartels scored 14.34 points to defeat Peruvian Sofía Mulanovich (10.60) in the Billabong Girls Pro Rio Final.

The next stop on the 2008 ASP Women's World Tour will be the Beachley Classic in Sydney, Australia from October 9 – 14, 2008.

Current ASP Women's World Tour Ratings: After Event No. 4 of 8

1 – Stephanie Gilmore (AUS) 3516 points
2 – Sofia Mulanovich (PER) 3504 points
3 – Layne Beachley (AUS) 3036 points
4 – Samantha Cornish (AUS) 2628 points
5 – Amee Donohoe (AUS) 2424 points

News source: ANDINA

A group of players from the German football club Hamburg HSV, including Peruvian striker Paolo Guerrero, visited a nursing home to spend some time with the elderly residents and help with repairs and painting inside the building.

23-year-old Paolo Guerrero held a long and pleasant conversation with a nice woman.

Before leaving, Hamburg players showed off their football skills to the delight of local residents who took pictures with Bundesliga stars.

HSV came from two goals down to beat Bayer Leverkusen 3-2 on Saturday.

With this victory, HSV is at the top of the Bundesliga table for the first time since the 1999/2000 season.

News source: ANDINA

After classifying to play in Mexico next year the minors volleyball team and the sub champions of the South American Athletics competition were honored by President Alan Garcia in recognition for their the hard work and achievements.

The ceremony took place in the Grand Hall in the Palacio de Gobierno, where the President proceeded to praise the athletes on their dedication and perseverance in sport as well as thanking them for representing their country so well.

The president stated that he and his government were committed to supporting the athletes in both national and international tours in order to assure they would be prepared.

He went on to wish them the best of luck in their upcoming match.

In return, the President received a ball and flag signed by all the members on the team.

Living in Peru
Israel J. Ruiz

"We have self-respect. Until the referee blows the whistle signaling the end of the game I will keep running," said Juan Vargas, the Peru defender that provided the assist to tie Argentina in the final minute of the game.

Vargas, who recently signed a €12 million contract with Fiorentina, assured he and his teammates kept fighting until the last minute of the game, never letting their hopes fall, even when Argentina scored in the 83rd minute of the game.

"What was most important was the team's attitude. Playing against Argentina, a top league team, is heroic. It's a shame we tied, we deserved better luck, but it's over," said "El Loco" Vargas, assuring Peru's national team had to push ahead with the same mentality.

Even though Peru managed to tie the game in an unexpected play, local media and the players themselves feel the team deserved more.

While Peruvian media is known for bashing its players, headlines Thursday morning affirmed the team's effort deserved a win.

"I think we deserved more, I believe we played a great game and that several of these guys played really well and losing would have been unfair," said team captain Nolberto Solano.

Solano, who has accumulated two yellow cards, will not be able to play in Peru's next match against Bolivia, which is to be held on October 11.

Living in Peru
Israel J. Ruiz

After battling down the field and breaking free from two Argentine players, an assist from Juan Vargas in the 93rd minute of the game to Johan Fano gave Peru's national selection a much needed tie.

With a new attitude and a fresh team of players, Peru's national team has brought hope back to football fans in the Andean nation.

Even though Peru's match against Argentina ended in a tie and did not give the selection the three points it desperately needs, faith and confidence have been restored in Peruvian football fans across the country.

Playing offensively from kick-off, covering Argentina aggressively and running after every lose ball were key factors in Peru's tie.

While many believed Argentina would break its three-game streak of ties, Peru's national team battled to the end and managed to score in the last minute of the game.

After its last intensive training session on Tuesday, Peru's national football team is ready to pull off a historic win against Olympic champion Argentina at 21:30 hours (02:30 GMT) at the Monumental Stadium in Lima.

The Peruvian team, coached by Jose Del Solar, performed joint tactical exercises looking for a triumph which keeps them "in course" to reach one of the five places of the South American World Cup 2010 Qualifiers.

Central defender Walter Vilchez (Puebla, Mexico) participated and was called at the last minute to replace Sporting Braga's Alberto Rodriguez who will not be able to play against Argentina for having accumulated two yellow cards.

Midfielders Nolberto Solano and Paolo De la Haza have recovered from the injuries suffered during the 1-0 win over Venezuela on September 6 in Lima.

Though coach Del Solar did not reveal the line-up, the following players are expected to play: Butrón, Prado, Vílchez (Contreras), Zambrano, Vargas, Torres, De la Haza, Solano, Chávez, Alva, Fano.

Del Solar did not mention if he would have man-to-man coverage on Lionel Messi since he considers the visitors also have world-class figures like Riquelme and "Kun" Aguero among others.

News source: ANDINA

Living in Peru
Israel J. Ruiz

Argentina's world champion football team has arrived to Peru and concluded its first practice in preparation for the World Cup qualifier that is to take place at the Monumental Stadium in Lima on Wednesday.

After their practice, which took place at Markham school from 10:30 a.m. - noon, the team headed to their hotel in Miraflores, where Javier Zannetti and Juan Pablo Carrizo commented on the upcoming match.

"We have great respect for Peru's national team," said Argentina's team captain. "We know the team is on the rise and like all qualifiers it will be complicated."

Anything can happen on the field, said Javier Zannetti, explaining his team had had three consecutive ties and could not afford to miss out on gaining points.

When asked about missing players, Zannetti stated he did not believe his team would be seriously affected by the fact that Carlos Tevez, Javier Mascherano and Roberto Abbondanzieri would not be able to play.

"We're missing important players but the luck Argentina has is that the team has many great players and the eleven that will play tomorrow will give everything they've got," said Zannetti.

Peru had its first 2010 World Cup qualifier win on Saturday against Venezuela, taking the Andean team out of last place in the 10-country South American ranking.

Each of Peru’s national football players will receive 6,000 dollars if they beat Argentina on Wednesday, so they can keep their dreams of qualifying for the South Africa World Cup 2010, stated today the World Cup commission leader, José Mallqui.

“After beating Venezuela, we have some hope of facing the Argentinean squad. Football players are very motivated and they trust they will win this match”, Mallqui told to Andina news agency.

Although this award represents an incentive to the Peruvian team's efforts, they should really be worried about making our country proud and taking into account that they are the home team.

Mallqui also said that after beating Venezuela, Argentina thinks that Peru could be a key competitor.

“I think that Argentine coach, Alfio Basile, will analyze the match between Peru and Venezuela. I also think that there is a great possibility to win if Peru’s national football team plays with the same attitude as they did last Saturday.

This match will take place at the Monumental Stadium in Ate (District of Lima) at 9:30 pm (02:30 am GMT).

News source: ANDINA

Living in Peru
Israel J. Ruiz

With a stronger and more united team that cooperated much more on the field, Peru's national selection defeated Venezuela 1-0 on Saturday evening at Monumental Stadium in Lima.

An assist from Nolberto Solano gave Piero Alva the perfect chance to score the only goal of the game during the 38th minute of the match and put Peru in a lead that Venezuela was unable to tie.

The Andean country's team was on the attack from the beginning of the game, taking six shots at the goal by the end of the first half.

Possessing the ball over 60 percent of the game and with constant attacks from player such as Nolberto Solano, Daniel Chávez and Johan Fano, the Peruvian squad won its first qualifier in the World Cup elimination rounds.

After seven grueling rounds, Peru has brought itself out of last place and currently has six points out of a possible twenty-one.

The new team will go up against Olympic champs Argentina on Wednesday September 10.

The match is to be held at the Monumental Stadium once again.

Living in Peru
Israel J. Ruiz

Peruvian sports are trapped in time, said reporters for El Comercio, explaining there were records in the Andean country that had not been broken in almost 40 years.

Fernando Acevedo, one of Peru's past athletes that has not had his records broken affirmed he was not proud of this or the difficult situation the country was facing.

"The fact that no one has broken my records shows we have not progressed," said Acevedo, explaining that without proper funding and a serious plan for aspiring athletes history would not change.

To these troubles is added the fact that the country's ministry of economy has announced it will cut the Peruvian Sports Institute's (IPD) budget.

Arturo Woodman, head of the IPD, confirmed that the 2009 budget could be reduced by 20 million soles.

"When Alan Garcia came into office there was a 40-million-sol budget for sports. In 2007 it doubled to 80 million soles and this year we have reached 100 million," said Woodman, explaining this was three soles per Peruvian.

If this figure were cut, it would place the country's sports budget back at 80 million soles.

Woodman explained these figures were minute when compared to other South American countries such as Chile, which has a budget of $90 million and spends $6 per Chilean.

He added that Venezuela spends between eight and ten dollars per citizen.