Soccer cup won by Uruguay

Press, 12 January 1981, Page 15

Soccer cup won by Uruguay

NZPA-Reuter Montevideo Uruguay, the winner of the first World Cup final, celebrated the fiftieth anniversary of the championship by beating Brazil, 2-1, in the final of the Gold Cup soccer tournament on Saturday. Waldemar Victorino kept up his goal-a-game record in the tournament by scoring the deciding goal in the eighty-second minute. After a fiercely contested goal-less first half, a substitute, Jorge Barrios, brought the 71,000 crowd alive by breaking the stalemate in the forty-eighth minute. He steered the ball home from close range after a fine run by Ruben Paz had set up the chance.

Brazil, which was fancied to beat the host nation after a rousing 4-1 win over the European champion, West Germany, in a group match earlier this week, hit back on the hour through its skipper, Socrates. He was brought down in the penalty box as he bore in on the goal and then got up to convert the spot kick. The win was Uruguay's most significant since it last won the World Cup in 1950. The architect of the win was the midfielder Ruben Paz, the outstanding player of the tournament. In spite of close marking he inspired his team-mates time and again with darting runs and intelligent passing. He was supported by the speed of Venancio Ramos and the goal-scorer, Victorino, while at the back Hugo de Leon shone.