For the uninitiated, Copa America is the South American football federation's (CONMEBOL) premiere international soccer tournament. In other words, this is the South American version of the Eurocup (UEFA European Championship). Outside of said Eurocup and the World Cup, it is probably the next best international tournament. In almost any given year, Brazil and Argentina will have star-studded squads and with the quality of soccer currently very high in Uruguay, Chile, and Colombia, there is a ton of talent on display. Furthermore, a lot of South American-based players are basically showcasing for European clubs (the transfer window is currently open). This tournament begins tomorrow with hosts Chile taking on Ecuador.
Although a bit odd, Copa America will be taking place this year in Chile and again next year in the US (to celebrate its centennial). Uruguay is the defending champion. The format of the tournament places the 10 CONMEBOL teams plus 2 "guest" teams from CONCACAF (this year, Mexico and Jamaica) into 3 groups of 4. Each group then plays a single round robin against the other teams in the groups (i.e. 3 matches per team in the group phase). The top 2 teams of each group and the top 2/3 3rd place finishers advance to a single-game quarterfinal round.
Group A is: Chile, Mexico, Ecuador, and Bolivia
Group B is: Argentina, Uruguay, Paraguay, and Jamaica
Group C is: Brazil, Colombia, Peru, and Venezuela
Next week, Chile plays Mexico on Monday, Argentina plays Uruguay on Tuesday, and Brazil plays Colombia on Wednesday. To reiterate, that's just the group phase. The knockout stage should provide permutations of these matchups which should be a pleasure to watch. If nothing else, I suggest people watch to see how different the style of South American soccer is. First and foremost, it is much more physical than European club soccer. These teams/countries generally do NOT like each other. You will constantly be surprised at how much contact the refs allow and teams (usually less talented ones and Brazil) often build their strategy around slowing down fast teams. On the other hand, players adjust accordingly and there is more effort to stay up IMHO. Hardass Americans who lament how soft soccer is should watch if they want to see more vicious tackles than usual, but sadly, the amount of flopping is comparable to European soccer as well. Also IMO, there is more offensive creativity and less formulaic attacking strategies employed. Unfortunately, outside of Chile, most national teams have recognized that with the short amount of time to train together, the best strategy is generally disciplined defending with opportunistic attacking (as seen by Argentina at the 2014 WC). This also explains why offensive strategies lean more on individual creativity and quick hitting combo play.
Some player/team highlights:
-Chile is coached by Jorge Sampaoli who is a total boss. He implements a system of incredibly intense pressing that usually results in very entertaining matches. Chile has Vidal (Juventus), Alexis Sanchez (Arsenal), Bravo (Barcelona), and several other European-based players. The team should easily make it out of the group phase and should be tons of fun to watch.
-Mexico has some real talent, but has struggled to establish itself in international competition. The current squad is mostly comprised of domestic-based players other than Chicharito and Dos Santos, but considering they're competing with Ecuador and Bolivia at sea level (or closer to it than usual anyway), they should qualify.
-Argentina are likely the favorites to take down this tournament. The team is still licking its wounds a bit from WC 2014 and these players by and large have not won an international competition yet. The lineup is completely absurd. Pretty much the entire team is based at major European clubs and this group seems to have a camaraderie that previous iterations did not share. Messi, Aguero, Tevez, Lavezzi, Pastore, Lamela, Banega, Mascherano, Pereyra, Biglia, Otamendi, Rojo, Zabaleta, Garay...there are other solid players I'm not listing. Former 1-year Barcelona coach Tata Martino takes over the reigns and should have these guys playing solid ball. Will be interesting to see how the guys with the longest Euro season look in terms of fatigue. Anything less than the title will be a disappointment.
-Uruguay, as said above, are defending their crown. They are at the tail end of a golden era (Forlan, Caceres, etc.), but are still a good squad. I don't know how many more games Suarez is suspended for (maybe the whole tourney?), but even without him, there is some real talent with Godin, Stuani, Cavani and others. They should easily qualify from this group.
-Brazil are looking to redeem themselves after the 7-1 drubbing in the WC semis from Germany. This team still has stupid talent, but it's a bit sad that they are being coached by Dunga, who favors the aforementioned slow and grinding tactics that are effective, but aesthetically weak. Watch out for Neymar, Coutinho, Willian, Fernandinho, Thiago Silva, Marquinhos, Felipe Luis, and David Luiz. Should make it to the semis without much trouble.
-Colombia are having a renaissance of sorts led by James who is a fantastic creator and pure #10. With Falcao healthy, Teo, Jackson Martinez, Bacca, Cuadrado, and Ospina, this team has plenty of talent to go far this tournament.
I fully expect those 6 teams (Chile, Mexico, Argentina, Uruguay, Brazil, and Colombia) to qualify, but I have no idea about the quality of the rest. Based on my vague memories of the last matches of WC qualifying, I'd probably put Ecuador, Venezuela, and Paraguay a notch above Peru Bolivia, and Jamaica. Will be interesting to see who makes it out of these teams (or if more than 2 do), although getting past the quarters would be a significant accomplishment for any of them.
Although a bit odd, Copa America will be taking place this year in Chile and again next year in the US (to celebrate its centennial). Uruguay is the defending champion. The format of the tournament places the 10 CONMEBOL teams plus 2 "guest" teams from CONCACAF (this year, Mexico and Jamaica) into 3 groups of 4. Each group then plays a single round robin against the other teams in the groups (i.e. 3 matches per team in the group phase). The top 2 teams of each group and the top 2/3 3rd place finishers advance to a single-game quarterfinal round.
Group A is: Chile, Mexico, Ecuador, and Bolivia
Group B is: Argentina, Uruguay, Paraguay, and Jamaica
Group C is: Brazil, Colombia, Peru, and Venezuela
Next week, Chile plays Mexico on Monday, Argentina plays Uruguay on Tuesday, and Brazil plays Colombia on Wednesday. To reiterate, that's just the group phase. The knockout stage should provide permutations of these matchups which should be a pleasure to watch. If nothing else, I suggest people watch to see how different the style of South American soccer is. First and foremost, it is much more physical than European club soccer. These teams/countries generally do NOT like each other. You will constantly be surprised at how much contact the refs allow and teams (usually less talented ones and Brazil) often build their strategy around slowing down fast teams. On the other hand, players adjust accordingly and there is more effort to stay up IMHO. Hardass Americans who lament how soft soccer is should watch if they want to see more vicious tackles than usual, but sadly, the amount of flopping is comparable to European soccer as well. Also IMO, there is more offensive creativity and less formulaic attacking strategies employed. Unfortunately, outside of Chile, most national teams have recognized that with the short amount of time to train together, the best strategy is generally disciplined defending with opportunistic attacking (as seen by Argentina at the 2014 WC). This also explains why offensive strategies lean more on individual creativity and quick hitting combo play.
Some player/team highlights:
-Chile is coached by Jorge Sampaoli who is a total boss. He implements a system of incredibly intense pressing that usually results in very entertaining matches. Chile has Vidal (Juventus), Alexis Sanchez (Arsenal), Bravo (Barcelona), and several other European-based players. The team should easily make it out of the group phase and should be tons of fun to watch.
-Mexico has some real talent, but has struggled to establish itself in international competition. The current squad is mostly comprised of domestic-based players other than Chicharito and Dos Santos, but considering they're competing with Ecuador and Bolivia at sea level (or closer to it than usual anyway), they should qualify.
-Argentina are likely the favorites to take down this tournament. The team is still licking its wounds a bit from WC 2014 and these players by and large have not won an international competition yet. The lineup is completely absurd. Pretty much the entire team is based at major European clubs and this group seems to have a camaraderie that previous iterations did not share. Messi, Aguero, Tevez, Lavezzi, Pastore, Lamela, Banega, Mascherano, Pereyra, Biglia, Otamendi, Rojo, Zabaleta, Garay...there are other solid players I'm not listing. Former 1-year Barcelona coach Tata Martino takes over the reigns and should have these guys playing solid ball. Will be interesting to see how the guys with the longest Euro season look in terms of fatigue. Anything less than the title will be a disappointment.
-Uruguay, as said above, are defending their crown. They are at the tail end of a golden era (Forlan, Caceres, etc.), but are still a good squad. I don't know how many more games Suarez is suspended for (maybe the whole tourney?), but even without him, there is some real talent with Godin, Stuani, Cavani and others. They should easily qualify from this group.
-Brazil are looking to redeem themselves after the 7-1 drubbing in the WC semis from Germany. This team still has stupid talent, but it's a bit sad that they are being coached by Dunga, who favors the aforementioned slow and grinding tactics that are effective, but aesthetically weak. Watch out for Neymar, Coutinho, Willian, Fernandinho, Thiago Silva, Marquinhos, Felipe Luis, and David Luiz. Should make it to the semis without much trouble.
-Colombia are having a renaissance of sorts led by James who is a fantastic creator and pure #10. With Falcao healthy, Teo, Jackson Martinez, Bacca, Cuadrado, and Ospina, this team has plenty of talent to go far this tournament.
I fully expect those 6 teams (Chile, Mexico, Argentina, Uruguay, Brazil, and Colombia) to qualify, but I have no idea about the quality of the rest. Based on my vague memories of the last matches of WC qualifying, I'd probably put Ecuador, Venezuela, and Paraguay a notch above Peru Bolivia, and Jamaica. Will be interesting to see who makes it out of these teams (or if more than 2 do), although getting past the quarters would be a significant accomplishment for any of them.
