englishman's guide to the copa america

8/3/2019 Englishman's Guide to the Copa America

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EMELIE OKEKE >

Featuring the greatest footballer in

the world, the best player from the

World Cup and the most excing

young prospect in the game, Copa

America 2011 promises not to dis-

appoint.

He's on his way to becoming the

best player in history. Given what

we already know and because he

surpasses himself day by day, he's

already the best in the world.

Sergio Basta was one of the 80,000

awestruck spectators in the Stadio

Bernabeu on 29 April who wit-

nessed Lionel Messi's mesmerising

two-goal display against Real Madrid

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ENGLISHMANS GUIDE TO THECOPA AMERICA

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in the Champions League semi-final

first leg. As manager of the Ar-

genna naonal team, Basta is

placed beer than most to predict

the dizzying heights that the

Barcelona forward can reach. No-

one will be hoping more than

Basta that Messi can steer La Al-

biceleste to victory in their home-

land and keep the under-fire coach

in his job in the process.

The drama surrounding the 43rd

edion of what, pound-for-pound, is

the true heavyweight champion of

internaonal compeons began

well before the final twelve talent-

laden squads had even assembled

on Argenne soil. There were man-

agerial upheavals and administrave

power-struggles in the aermath of

the World Cup a tournament that

was, on the whole, uerly under-

whelming for Lan America.

Argenna departed South Africa on

3 July, 2010, chastened by a crushing

display of German efficiency and

counter-aacking guile more suited

to the playing fields of Buenos Aires

than the training pitches of Berlin.

With a major tournament

of their own to be hosted

less than 12 months aer

being given the bums rush

from Cape Town, the pow-

ers that be in the Argen-

ne Football Associaon

broke free from their mav-

erick head coach and playing legend

of yesteryear, replacing the uninhib-

ited Diego Maradona with a less

outspoken maverick head coach and

playing legend of yesteryear.

Basta was appointed caretaker

manager aer the sacking of his

more celebrated 1986 World Cup-

winning team-mate. A despondent

Maradona was less than compli-

mentary towards his successor,

claiming that El Checho would not

even be recognised in Uruguay. To

his credit, the new man has re-

mained recent in the

face of cricism from his

esteemed peer. Bastas

reign formally began in

most encouraging fashion

in Qatar, seven months

ago, with a 1-0 friendly

victory over arch-rivals

Brazil, featuring a 90th minute goal

from Messi.

Yet, the pressure has heightened on

the former River Plate midfielder in


ENGLISHMANS GUIDE TO THE COPA AMERICA EMELIE OKEKE >

Group AArgentina

Bolivia

Colombia

Costa Rica
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the wake of some less than enlight-

ening displays in the close season,

including defeats to Nigeria and

Poland (albeit with shadow sides

fielded). Despite these showings,

with their Champions League-win-

ning superstar in tow, a record 15th

connental tle is in high demand

among the notoriously fanacal Ar-

genne faithful.

The Brazilians also em-

barked on a managerial

regime change in the

wake of their quarter-

final disappointment last

summer. The phleg-

mac Dunga made way for Mano

Menezes and, with the 2014 Brazil-

ian World Cup in mind, Menezes is

ushering in a new era of young tal-

ent.

Domesc-based starlets such as

Lucas (Sao Paolo) and Ganso (San-

tos) have already been coveted by

numerous European ouits, and the

pair now have the opportunity to

showcase their ability in the famous

golden shirt of the Selecao during a

major tournament.

The crown jewel of this

new lier of gied youth

is undoubtedly Ganso's

club-mate, Neymar. This

19-year-old forward is top

quality and plays like he

knows it; employing an

abundance of tricks and

feints to complement his powerful

bursts of pace and fleet-footed fin-

ishing. He has made one appear-

ance on English soil, running the

show as Brazil easily defeated Scot-

land in a friendly at the Emirates Sta-

dium earlier this year. Seeing as

Chelsea apparently lead his long list

of suitors, London may soon be see-

ing more of the player who could

challenge Messi for player of the

tournament this summer.

As seeded naons, Brazil and Ar-

genna have been kept apart in the

draw for the group stage and appear

to emerge as prime beneficiaries of

favourable pairings for the prelimi-

naries. The Selecao will begin the

defence of their trophy against

Venezuela, followed by dark-horses

Paraguay - arent they always? - and

Antonio Valencia-driven Ecuador.

The curtain-raiser for hosts Ar-

genna also kicks off the compe-

on: a date with Bolivia. They then

face Columbia and Costa Rica, the



Group BBrazil

Ecuador

Paraguay

Venezuela


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laer having been draed in as late

replacements for earthquake and

tsunami-stricken Japan.

The Japanese had been invited to

compete as a guest naon but were

forced to pull out in the devastang

wake of the natural and nuclear dis-

aster in their homeland, which led

to the subsequently delayed J-

Leagues understandable reluctance

to release its players. In their ab-

sence, there had been speculaon

that the United States or possibly

Spain (!) would step in. In the end,

however, neither was willing to com-

mit aer their players had endured

a shortened summer in 2010,

through duty in South Africa. The

Americans also were commied to

the CONCACAF Gold Cup, which

they just lost to Mexico, last week-

end, and are in the midst of the MLS

club campaign. Costa Rica were in-

volved in the God Cup, as well, but,

having lost out to Uruguay for a spot

in South Africa, felt fresh enough to

do double duty.

An unintended by-product of

Japans natural disaster is a roune

passage to the knockout stages for

Argenna, much to the chagrin of

their rivals. Messi and co.

were the only ouit from

Group A to qualify for

South Africa 2010, and the

gap in class should be

telling.

Mexico, who apparently

cant get enough football,

are the second invitee. They happily

avoided Brazil and Argenna but

landed in what will undoubtedly be

dubbed the Group of Death: Group

C.

There resides Atleco Madrid's

striker supreme Diego Forlan, who

was named the best player of the

World Cup. He will again be the

lynchpin for the incisive aacking

play which made Uruguay such a joy

to watch last summer, with the ob-

vious excepon of their

opener against France.

Forlan looks set to reprise

the playmaker role that he

clearly relishes for the na-

onal team, behind Edin-

son Cavani and Luis

Suarez.

Looking through the provisional

Uruguay squad, the key element



Group CChile

Mexico

Peru

Uruguay


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which emanates from their roster is

stability. The majority of their squad

are at the peak of their careers and

have accrued a large number ofcaps. Unlike Brazil, Argenna and

Group C rivals Chile, the Celeste re-

tained their manager aer an im-

pressive World Cup where they

outperformed all other Lan Amer-

ican entrants. That may be a crucial

detail in this tournament.

Oscar Tabarez has now been in

charge for five years, overseeing a

remarkable improvement in results

which resulted in an elevaon to a

record high of sixth in the FIFA

World Rankings. They have since

dropped one place, falling in behind

England. It would, of course, sll be

a shock if Uruguay won the Copa

America, or even made the final, but

there is an abounding feeling in

Montevideo that, if a tournament

triumph is to befall this famous foot-

ball naon during this generaon,then it will happen this summer.

Chile may have parted ways with

their Argenne head coach, Marcelo

Bielsa, but they have deservedly

earned their reputaon as an enter-

taining, refreshingly forward-

minded team, buoyed by the

youthful exuberance of alumni from

their recently successful Under-20

and Under-17 sides. Big things were

expected of La Roja at the World

Cup but, despite flashes of enter-

prise, an unkind draw contributed to

early meengs with Spain and Brazil,

leading to a second round exit.

Another Argenne from the class of

86 now manages the team; Claudio

Borghi took the reins in February.

He is being paid a salary of $1.5mil-

lion and will be expected to at leastlead his adopted naon to knockout

football in his motherland.

Fans of the richer European clubs

will be especially interested in the

displays of winger-cum-striker Alexis

Sanchez. The Udinese player has

been linked predominantly with

Barcelona and Manchester City, with

the Friuli side reportedly holding out

for a 50 million windfall.

Peru are the side most likely to miss

out on the knockout stages from

Group C, yet any team led by the

seasoned striking talent of Claudio

Pizzaro and backed up by the pace

of Jefferson Farfan cannot be dis-




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counted. Farfan bullied Inter Milan

in the Champions League this sea-

son and Brazilian defender Maicon

will not have fond memories. TheSchalke forward is most definitely on

the 'Bale List'.

Finally, we return to Mexico. El Tri

will be backed to religious extremes

by their ever-fervent support, but

theyve suffered momentous set-

backs in their preparaon. Five

members of their Gold Cup squad

were suspended indefinitely aer

tesng posive for a banned sub-

stance in a roune doping test dur-

ing this summer's CONCACAF. This

will not directly affect the composi-

on of their Copa America squad

though, as they are sending a

shadow roster to Argenna, com-

prised enrely of home-based play-

ers with the excepons of Spurs

forward Giovani Dos Santos and his

younger brother,

Jonathan, who plieshis trade for

Barcelona B. Sll,

morale among offi-

cials and supporters

is at a low ebb and if

the uncertainty

trickles down to the

largely inexperi-

enced group of

players perform-

ances will suffer.

Realiscally theyll

be hoping to scrape through as one

of the two best third-placed teams.

So, those are the twelve parci-

pants. Before I do a Lawro and un-

veil my expert predicons, it is

worth nong that some of the finest

clubs in Europe will be losing the

cream of their Lan

American talent dur-ing what is a key pe-

riod of pre-season

preparaon, the ma-

jority of July. The

Madrid clubs, as well

as Udinese and AC

Milan, will have no-

table absentees, but

it appears that

Milan's neighbours

Internazionale will

suffer the most, with

Javier Zane, Diego Milito, Lucio,

Maicon and Julio Cesar having all re-

ported to their respecve naons.

As well as these Nerazzuri players ef-

fecvely missing pre-season train-



Bravo

Zapata

Da Silva

Cacares

Zane

Vargas

Ganso

BanegaFalcao

Suazo

Barrios

Chile

Colombia

Paraguay

Uruguay

Argenna

Peru

Brazil

ArgennaColombia

Chile

Paraguay

PLAYERS TO WATCHGK

DEF

DEF

DEF

DEF

MID

MID

MIDFOR

FOR

FOR


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ing, factor in a recent World Cup and

a long season of Champions League

glory just before that, and its fair to

say they will be returning to Inter forthe start of the new campaign off

the back of two years of non-stop

compeve football. With a new

manager in Gianpero Gasperini at

the helm, it will be no surprise if the

start of the Serie A season throws up

a few surprise results.

For Bara fans, prayers will be di-

rected towards Messis unscathed

return to his club come August. For

Argenna's faithful, prayers will be

directed towards the world's num-

ber one footballer returning the

Copa America trophy to Buenos

Aires for the first me in almost two

decades.



This is an extract from Issue One of Man and Ball

magazine: Let Sleeping Gods Lie.

This issue introduces Nigel and features stories

on German football since reunification, African

Arsenal fans, an unsung Dutch legend, and

seven other intriguing articles.

It can be downloaded in its entiretyHERE >

Emelie OkekeRAMBLING WITH GAMBLING >

@Emelie_Okeke >

Writes readable football essays, which is a

commendable feat in itself. Willl surely go on

to grace better publications and maybe even

a real life newspaper one day.
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