Temuco, Chile, Jun 21 (EFE).– The Peruvian national soccer team held off the Colombian attack here on Sunday, fighting it out to a scoreless draw on the last day of the Copa America group phase and qualifying for the quarterfinals.

The Peruvians remained ahead of Colombia in the Group C rankings, as the match between Brazil and Venezuela ended up with the Selecao winning 2-1 and finishing the first round at the top of the group. Colombia, an early favorite to win the tournament was relegated to an inglorious third place, barely advancing to the quarterfinals.

Nestor Pekerman’s squad were aware that a tie would not be enough if the four Group C teams remained with the same relative number of points after the day’s play, and they went on the attack right from the start, launching sallies on offense that the Peruvians found it difficult to contain.

However, a great intervention by goalkeeper Pedro Gallese against a couple of fabulous plays by Radamel Falcao and Pablo Armero prevented the Colombians from capitalizing, but Peru was only able to breathe a little easier when midfielder Edwin Valencia was injured and replaced midway through the first half.

Nevertheless, although the Peruvians – coached by Ricardo Gareca – were able to push into enemy territory after that point, they were unable to create clear chances for themselves, although they played intelligently and were able to continuously disrupt their rivals’ game flow, a strategy that sparked protests by the Colombians’ fans.

The match was played in German Becker stadium before some 17,000 fans. EFE