In the run-up to the tournament, Paolo Guerrero’s involvement in the tournament was an uncertainty. The 34-year-old was given a 14-month ban having tested positive for a cocaine by-product contained in a tea. And it was only a few weeks before the start of the tournament that a tribunal overturned the ban thus allowing him to play for Peru.
The tribunal reached its decision after the captains of Peru’s Group C rivals consisting of Australia, Denmark, and France wrote to FIFA asking them to lift the ban. And the captain showed his presence in the game, as he provided the assist for the first goal while scoring the second one.
Having promised a big hug to the Australian captain, Mile Jedinak, before the game, the Aussies would have hoped Guerrero to be in a more forgiving mood, but that was not to be as he showed his poacher’s instinct with a crisp finish across Matt Ryan in the Australian goal.
Although Australia appealed for offside in the build-up to the first goal, the flag stayed down and an early lead helped Peru dictate the play. Peru’s captain was at the heart of it, harrying the Australian defence and looking to make a pass forward every time he was on the ball.