Club America Turns Back Penarol on Penalty Kicks

While wet grounds forced the postponement of the Dodger-Padre doubleheader Thursday evening, the already-delayed soccer doubleheader at the Coliseum went on as scheduled.

Two days had passed since the originally scheduled game day, and Club America of Mexico and Penarol of Uruguay could wait no longer to play for the America’s Cup.

Club America was the 1987 Central and North American champion, Penarol the South American champion. So, it was fitting that the teams battled to a 2-2 tie, with Club America winning on penalty kicks, 7-6, before 14,198 fans.

Penarol’s Rivero Elised missed on his club’s fourth 12-yard attempt--each team gets five tries--which opened the way for Club America to connect on its remaining two and gain the win.

It appeared in the first half that Club America, which trailed at the intermission, 1-0, was frustrated by the Brazilian style of soccer utilized by Penarol--short passes and an emphasis on tight defense.

In the second half, Club America’s style of play--working for the shot with longer passes--began to click, although the team was playing without Coach Jorge Silva Vieira, who was ejected for protesting what he thought was a bad call.

Antonio Carlos Santos connected after taking a long pass, turning and scoring left-footed from 40 feet out midway through the second half to even the score at 1-1.

With 15 minutes remaining, Club America’s Luis Roberto Alves took an outlet pass and broke downfield unopposed, easily beating goalkeeper Oscar Ferro to give his team a 2-1 lead.

However, Penarol’s Jose Herrera tied the game with five minutes left.

In the second game, the heavily favored El Salvador national team, tuning up for a match against the United States next month, managed only a 1-1 tie against Guatemala’s national team.