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(JP-wb) — Peruvian sports stars, Surfing world champion Sofia Mulanovich and international soccer player Claudio Pizarro will team up within the next few days for a special media campaign to boost votes worldwide for the ancient Inca citadel of Machu Picchu as one of the new 7 world wonders. Lima’s football club Universitario del Deportes will also join in.

Peru’s ministry for foreign trade and tourism informed on Thursday that it is very satisfied for the continuing support of the campaign which has been an immense promotion for several months now.

Minister Mercedes Araoz appreciated that many Peruvian artists and sportsmen have added themselves to the campaign, for example the Miss World 2004, Maju Mantilla, members of the pop group “Libido”, actress Camucha Negrete, folk singer Sonia Morales and the 2005 South American Rallye champion Ramon Ferreyros.

Also promoting Machu Picchu are the 2006 Pan-American Surf champion Gabriel Villarán, 2006 American Surf champion Javier Swayne, famous hair styler and owner of Tommy’s salon Javier Ampuero, and the President of the Peru’s National Sports body Arturo Woodman.

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(JP-wb) — The national football teams of Ecuador and Peru will face each other in two friendlies in June, one at Madrid’s Vicente Calderón stadium and the second at the “Mini stadium” in Barcelona. This was announced by the Ecuadorian embassy in Spain.

The first match is scheduled for Sunday, June 3rd, at 7:00 p.m. at the stadium where Atletico Madrid usually plays its home games in the Primera Division.

Three days later, on June 6th, a rematch will be played in Barcelona at 9:00 p.m. at the so-called “Mini Estadio”, the “next door stadium” of F.C. Barcelona’s famous Camp Nou.

(official website link)

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(JP-wb) — Good news for Jose Diaz. The artificial turf at Lima’s ‘El Nacional’ Stadium, a.k.a. ‘Estadio Coloso de José Díaz’, has been given two stars from a FIFA inspector and is ready to go for the upcoming 2010 World Cup qualification matches.FIFA delegate Eric Harrison (England) said after his meticulous inspection that the two stars means “first quality and is the highest certification granted to artificial pitches in the world”.

This “FIFA recommended 2-Star certification” (comprising individual tests after installation) is the prerequisite for the official approval of artificial turf playing surfaces for national and international competitions.

The only complaint Harrison had was the level of silicone grains spread out over the field that come to the surface on various spots. “The artificial grass fibers have the correct length and once the silicone situation is corrected and the grains are removed, players, coaches and FIFA will be very happy and satisfied”, Harrison remarked.
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(JP-wb) — The draw for the 2007 Davis Cup World Group Play-offs has been made in London on Wednesday and Peru’s tennis team seems to be one of the luckier nations. Luis Horna, Ivan Miranda and Co. will face the team of Belarus in the next round and the good news is it will happen on home turf (or clay in this case), in front of its own crowd.

Belarus lost its first round World Group matchup, falling to Sweden 3-2, whereas Peru defeated Mexico this last weekend.

The team is led by Max Mirnyi (nicknamed “The Beast”), currently ranked 54th in the world. However, his main focus is on doubles where he is currently ranked No.1 in the world. His biggest achievements so far are the two victories in doubles at the US Open in 2000 and 2002 and his 2005 French Open title. In 2003 he reached the doubles final at Wimbledon.

He became a national hero in Belarus after a very successful performance at the Davis Cup 2004, when he and Vladimir Voltchkov defeated Russia 3-2 and went on to crush the mighty Argentine team 5-0, reaching the semifinals where they lost to USA.

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(JP-wb) — For 65 days Slovenian long-distance swimmer Martin Strel braved dangerous currents, battled piranhas, crocodiles and exhaustion to become the first person to swim the entire length of the Amazon river. For more than two months the marathon man averaged 80 kilometers (52 miles) daily and despite suffering from nausea, dizziness, sunstroke and diarrhea he continued jumping into the water every morning. More than once his mission seemed to come to an early end but he persevered and didn’t succumb to inner temptation or his doctors advice.

On Sunday he finished the last stage, formally completing his epic achievement four days ahead of schedule. Despite warnings from his medical staff he put on his wet suit one last time to swim the final kilometers even though on Friday he could hardly stand up and his team had to drag him out of the water. He reached his final destination, the Brazilian city of Belém, where thousands of admiring spectators were waiting for him. Again, the exhausted swimmer needed the help of his team who pulled him out. Apparently Martin’s blood pressure had reached a level that doctors feared a possible heart attack. Paramedics took care of him immediately, they “had trouble stabilizing him”, his website said.

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(JP-wb) — Peru’s Davis Cup tennis team is through to the World Group playoffs after building up an unassailable 3-0 lead against Mexico at the end of the second day in Playa Asia, a resort town about 100km south of Lima.

Luis Horna and Ivan Miranda won Saturday’s doubles match against Santiago Gonzalez/Antonio Ruiz-Rosales with a dramatic 3-set victory, all of them decided by tiebreakers: 7:6 (6-1), 7:6 (6-3), 7:6 (6-1).

Especially Miranda and Gonzalez had to mobilize their last reserves. Just hours earlier on Saturday morning both players had to resume their singles match which was suspended in the fourth set Friday night due to darkness. At the time Miranda was in front 6:4, 3:6, 6:1 and 5:5, but Gonzalez came out the gate quicker, broke Miranda’s serve and won the set 7:5.

However, Miranda ultimately prevailed in the 5th, beating Gonzalez 8:6 and scored the very important second victory for Peru.

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(JP-wb) — Today’s two UEFA Champions League matches couldn’t have been more different, at least from a Peruvian perspective.

Bayern Munich and Claudio Pizarro, who sat on the bench for the first 68 minutes, delivered a terrific fight against AC Milan, securing a 2:2 at San Siro stadium in the last minute behind two goals of Belgian defender Daniel van Buyten and terrific goalkeeping by young Michael Rensing.

Although Jefferson Farfan - the other remaining Peruvian player in the competition - was in the starting lineup for PSV Eindhoven’s game against FC Liverpool, he left the game at halftime and couldn’t prevent a disappointing 0:3 loss at home against a dominating ex-champion of 2005.

Bayern went into the game handicapped by two suspensions for midfielder Mark van Bommel and regular goalie Oliver Kahn. Van Bommel, who was already under probation, received another yellow-red card in the previous match against Real Madrid, while Kahn was suspended for bad manners. An incident during the regular doping tests after the match against Real, in which he threw his urine probe against the wall, was sanctioned by UEFA with a one game suspension. Meanwhile German newspapers have dubbed the episode as “pee-gate”.

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(JP-wb) — Argentinian football legend Diego Maradona is making “good progress”, according to an press note issued on Thursday morning by his personal physician and authorities of the Buenos Aires hospital where the ex-soccer star was admitted last night for what was diagnosed as decompensation. His daughters Dalma and Giannina were also present.

“Diego Maradona is in hemodynamically stable condition. His life was not in danger and he is improving. But we still have to conduct additional tests and examinations”, said Hector Pesera, clinic director of the Guemes Sanatorium in the Argentinian capital’s Almagro district. The 46-year-old national hero was under sedation to avoid problems with withdrawal from alcohol.

“Alcoholism in Senor Maradona or in any other patient is not something to be taken lightly. One has to treat it,” he said live on Argentinian television. :His illness was related to some food and alcohol disorder, the amount of cigarettes he smoked, and some excesses that made him feel bad and made it necessary to hospitalize him.”

The health center as well as his personal doctor, Alfredo Cahe, clarified that the episode was not related to drug consumption, as it was the case in previous occasions.

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(by Wolfy Becker)

(JP-wb) — Like in most South American countries, football (some call it soccer) is by far the most prominent sport. However, when we start talking about success, one feels that the football “gods” have neglected Peruvian national teams for more than two decades. Well, to tell you the truth, it is actually Peru’s football system - especially the youth system - that is to blame. But today is not the occasion to look for who’s at fault. Today is turning into a national holiday that rivals the celebrations of Peru’s Independence Day.

Since last Sunday, when Peru’s U-17 youngsters (barely) qualified for the 2007 World Cup hosted by South Korea in a few months, Peruvian football pride has been restored. The country has fallen into a football frenzy that his hardly understandable or even imaginable in most parts of the world. As a matter of fact, even myself as an avid football fan has never seen anything like it.

After all, it has been 26 years since a Peruvian team could qualify for the world’s football stage. I was in Germany in 1974 when Beckenbauer, Mueller and co. won the World Cup at Munich’s Olympiastadion and 16 years later when Matthäus, Brehme and Voeller repeated this feat in Rome 1990. I have also witnessed Michael Jordan’s and Scottie Pippen’s Chicago Bulls winning its third NBA championship in a row. But these celebrations seemed rather subdued compared to what is going on here the last couple of days.

Since the umpire’s final whistle blew last Sunday, the Peruvian mass media is reporting nothing else. They have put the 16 year old youngsters on a pedestal that is almost reaching the clouds in the sky and will be very hard to step down from. Numerous honking cars are decorated with red and white flags. Politics, a booming economy that still leaves about half the population living in poverty, the war on the coca farmers and other topics like corruption or the maritime border issue with Chile; all this stuff has to step aside.

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(JP-wb) — It has been 26 years since a Peruvian football team qualified for the big stage at a World Cup or any other global championship tournament. The last time was in 1981 when Peru’s first selection earned its ticket to the World Cup hosted by Spain the following year.

On Sunday the under-17 selection ended this drought with a 1:1 tie against Argentina, finishing the South American championships in fourth place. Only the four best teams qualified for the U-17 FIFA World Cup held in South Korea in August and September.

Peru needed the help of Colombia in the final matchday who crushed Venezuela 5:0. A Venezuelan victory would have eliminated Peru’s chances.

Jairo Hernandez scored the equalizer by hammering a penalty shot into the net shortly before halftime, after Argentina’s Fernandez had scored the go-ahead goal in the 21st minute.

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(JP-wb) — The first one who had to say no for the upcoming soccer friendly on Saturday against Japan was Claudio Pizarro (Bayern Munich). Apparently there was an “administrative problem”. Shortly after he was followed by Paolo Guerrero (Hamburger SV) and Jefferson Farfán (PSV Eindhoven). They are nursing injuries. Now Andrés Mendoza (Metallurg, Ukraine) can be added to the list. He would not obtain his visa in time to travel to the country of the rising sun. The only “foreign” striker who will make the trip is Roberto Jiménez who plays for San Lorenzo in Argentina.

Peru’s national football squad is already decimated before embarking on the long trip to Yokohama.

Farfan has pulled out of Peru’s friendly with Japan in Yokohama after picking up a hamstring problem in Ajax’s victory over PSV.
Guerrero met the same fate in February.

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(JP-wb) — Perú’s first second round match against Venezuela is currently at the halftime mark and the good news is the blanquiroja are leading 1:0 by a goal of Christian La Torre after just 53 seconds of play. La Torre outran Venezuela’s defenders and finished with a nice shot from about 14 meters into the right corner of the net.

We will keep you updated as the second half progresses.

Lineups:

Perú: Hermoza, Cevallos, Hernández, Duarte, Salazar, Socola, Coavoy, Trujillo, De la Cruz, Manco, La Torre
Head coach: Juan José Oré

Venezuela: Romo, Mirabal, Velásquez, Flores, Fasciana, Páez, Gonzáles, Del Valle, Signorelli, Valencia, López
Head coach: Amleto Bonacorso
Goal: Christian la Torre (PER, 1.minute)

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