Peru's players pose with their third place medals after beating Venezuela in the match to decide third and fourth places at the Copa America in La PlataSaturday. – Reuters LA PLATA – Striker Paolo Guerrero scored a hat trick as Peru crushed 10-man Venezuela 4-1 to take third place at the Copa America Saturday. William Chiroque put Peru ahead from Guerrero's pass three minutes before halftime and the striker nicknamed “Predator” rammed home the second in the 64th and two more in added time. “Third place is very good, I'm very proud of this team,” Guerrero told a TV reporter before the medals ceremony. “I'm a forward and I have to score goals, I work for the team. For me it's more important that the team wins,” Guerrero said after becoming top scorer at the tournament with five goals, two more than Luis Suarez of Uruguay and Argentina's Sergio Aguero. Peru, Brazil and Chile fell by the wayside, contributed to one of the best matches. “Peru played a much better match than us. Peru was a great team that knew how to take advantage of our mistakes,” said Venezuela's coach Cesar Farias. Venezuela, who had midfielder Tomas Rincon sent off on the hour for a dangerous tackle on Carlos Lobaton, pulled a goal back when midfielder Juan Arango poked home in the 79th minute at the end of a counter-attack. With Venezuela committed to trying to equalize, Guerrero hit them with two more goals in late breakaways, showing great control and exquisite finishing in both to cement his place as one of the best strikers of the competition.
