Brazil celebrating their 2019 Copa America win
The Copa America has thrown much action in these past few years, granted it is not the glossy feel of a European Championship or now the Euro Nations League, but in some ways better with street football and individual bravado thrown in good measure and rivalries that will make the Liverpool and Manchester United one look like a stroll at one of Walt Disney's theme park. There is more heart in the Copa and more pride I sense, it is like watching two village or street teams go at each other, you do not get that feel in Europe.
The great Lionel Messi had his first crack of the Copa America in 2007 in the final when Argentina lost to Brazil 3-0, in 2011 the king was about to be crowned at home when Argentina hosted the Copa, but Uruguay did a coup de grace in the quarter-finals by beating Argentina and winning on penalties after a 1-1 draw and eventually went to win the Copa beating Paraguay in the final.
After this I am not sure if Adidas went wild or CONMEBOL (South American Football Confederation) or maybe both, they decided that geee..lets have more Copas and maybe..just maybe it was to get King Lionel his crown and trophy for him to sit on his throne. 2016 would have marked the first 100 years of the Copa America as the first one was in 1916, but strangely CONMEBOL decided to go ahead with the 2015 edition and also have one to celebrate in 2016 with an expanded Copa including teams from CONCACAF (North, Central and Caribbean Football Confederation) both the 2015 and 2016 was won by Chile both times Argentina lost and both times on penalties.
In 2019 VAR (Video assistant referee) was used and as if this technology would prove to be the panacea for all football related illnesses from off-sides to player scuffles, but instead it proved to be more controversial when used and not used. A case in point was the group match between Argentina v Paraguay, Paraguay were leading 1-0 and chance came inside the box to Argentina's way, but suddenly VAR was called in to check on something and after the check Argentina were given a penalty.
The VAR actually showed that the Paraguay player did not handle the ball, but Argentina were still given a penalty. Japan also found it amusing that Uruguay had a penalty given for no reason when the Uruguay player was shown to have kicked the Japanese player.
Brazil also were victims after VAR had two goals disallowed against Venezuela, Argentina also could have had penalty against Brazil when Arthur clearly nudged or body checked a Argentina player, but VAR was not used, to cap it off Gabriel Jesus was sent off after what was a harmless header challenging a player in the final against Peru.
Brazil deservedly won the Copa, they played with intelligence and not the loose structure or tactical naivety that caused them to lose against Belgium in the World Cup quarter-finals in 2018. When they did not have the ball, they hunted in packs, like hyenas. Brazil manager Tite learned his lesson and chucked Marcelo out of the Brazil team, he was the weak point with his listless runs on the flanks forward and not tracking back.
However the highlight of this Copa was not Brazil's win, but what Messi said, after getting knocked out by Brazil and getting sent off in third-place match against Chile, he said the Copa was fixed by corrupt officials for Brazil to win.
This was unfair obviously when Argentina were also beneficiaries of bad refereeing. The fact that the gloss of this Copa was overshadowed by one man's statement says a lot of what is wrong at CONMEBOL.
Normally a statement like this would mean a hefty fine or even a ban in some matches. I doubt that is going to happen with Messi. The fact that one player like this can talk and amplify his views this way, would seem that the hands of Adidas are still at play. Adidas sponsors Argentina and Messi.
Brazil were worthy champions and by doing it without Neymar, Douglas Costa, Fabinho and Vinicius- Players who would walk into any national team, only shows how far Brazil have come since the disaster in the 2014 World Cup when they lost to Germany 7-1.
This Copa win now brings some credibility and enhances that lone star Olympic win in 2016 and ..boy! ..did Brazil need this win to bring some semblance of order to their football world.
Not far away up north in Mexico, Gerardo "Tata" Martino won the CONCACAF Gold Cup managing Mexico,beating USA 1-0 in the final. It was not somuch what Martino changed, though he did make changes on the disciplinary side and conduct of the players and changing the formation to 4-3-3.
It was what he mentioned at a press conference at the start of the competition, he said that he sees the future of an expanded Copa with all teams from CONMEBOL and CONCACAF together on a regular basis, CONCACAF has 41 teams!
This is interesting as it would mean a total of 51 teams in the pot, something like Europe. Granted the quality in South America which is CONMEBOL is much better with only 10 teams, from here Uruguay, Brazil and Argentina have won 9 World Cups between them, but the game is changing and countries are catching up.
More opponents for teams like Brazil might also mean better development programmes for youth football in South America, not to mention the CONCACAF teams who also get exposure to greater football skills and tactics and running alongside former world champions and former World Cup winners, in this case it is a win-win situation for both federations.
Martino also mentioned that the introduction of teams like Qatar and Japan into the Copa only devalues the Copa further and he said this with due respect to both these countries. He said it benefits them, but not CONMEBOL, this is true.
In the past teams like Mexico have been invited to take part in the Copa, but them winning it would be like a guest who brings a cousin for the party and he ends up winning the lucky draw, it has to be all or nothing.
The question is 51 teams now compete for one trophy instead of two, would that go down well for both these federations or countries? We can say this is normal in Europe and it happens always every four years, but hold on...even UEFA are now splicing atoms with the introduction of the Euro Nations League which runs every two years and together with the European Championship which runs every four years and add the World Cup qualifiers to that, UEFA are also evolving.
A solution might appear to be staring right there..once again taking a leaf out of Europe, the Euro Nations League was mooted to be expanded to other continents with a wider Global Nations League (this has not taken off entirely and FIFA seems to have some hiccups on this) , initially this would be a problem, especially for CONMEBOL, can you imagine having one every two years like in Europe and than having the Copa every 4 years with only 10 countries playing over and over again not counting the two guest teams?
Both CONCACAF and CONMEBOL can still have their separate cups and add that with expanded Americas Nations League of 51 teams played every two years, now that would mean something. It would also mean more matches and quality practice for all and have another trophy added together in this way all, which means three Copas, Gold Cup, Copa America and the expanded Copa...the federations, sponsors, players and Adidas..oops sorry..wins.
This would be a kick start to the American continent and will definitely improve the quality of football overall. It is interesting because technically the Copa America should be called the Copa Suda-America (South America) and rightfully this is the name it should be given and the expanded cup of CONMEBOL and CONCACAF should be called Copa America.
This small detail however might be what will bring about the disagreement, for the South Americans have the oldest international (country) competition started in 1916 and it was called Copa America since then, so it might be a bit hard giving up on that, but lets leave Adidas to settle that, they have been doing a "good job" so far.
Next year's tournament ..yes again another Copa will be in a different format with two groups split into north and south zone and each having 6 teams including invitational teams, which have not been decided.
The hosts? There will be co-hosts rather ; Argentina and Colombia, the 2020 winner will also gain a place in the Confederations Cup which is still on,..and OH! both Colombia and Argentina are kitted by Adidas.
Comments