Peru captain Paolo Guerrero – almost banned from playing at the Russia 2018 World Cup for ingesting cocaine – assisted one goal and socred the other as Peru won their first World Cup game for 36 years versus Australia in Sochi.
Guerrero provided a delicious chip for teammate Andre Carrillo inside the Australia box for the Benfica man to volley across his body and low into the far corner of the Australia goal for the opener on 18 minutes.
Then in the second half, Guerrero turned scorer when he swiveled and turned in Christian Cueva’s deflected pass to double the Peruvian lead on 50 minutes.
Guerrero would not have played in the Russia 2018 tournament if his ban for ingesting cocaine had not been lifted by the Swiss Supreme Court with just two weeks left until the tournament kicked off.
Australia captain Mile Jedinak wrote a letter in support of Guerrero’s appeal against his 14-month ban before his hearing last month. Such was his impact in the game, the Socceroos skipper could be left regretting his noble actions.
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