It’s not just Euro 2016 that football fans have
got to look forward to this summer! South
America’s premier international competition
returns for its 100-year anniversary, being
played outside of South America for the first
time, with the tournament taking place in
the United States – kicking off on 3rd June.
THE FAVOURITES
Argentina
It’s rare that a team featuring
Lionel Messi will go into a
tournament not favourites to
win it, Copa América is not one
of those unusual situations, as
he and his fellow Argentines are
the men the bookies are backing
to triumph in Copa América
Centenario.
It’s been a tale of near misses
in recent years for Argentina,
having lost the 2014 World Cup
final in extra time to Germany,
followed by defeat in last year’s
Copa America final in a penalty
shootout at the hands of thenhosts Chile.
They’ll be hoping for more
luck this time around, with all
of the regular star names once
again likely to feature, could this
be the year that Messi and Co.
make the trophy their own?
Colombia
Copa América Chile was
disappointing for Colombia.
They struggled in the group
stages, eventually qualifying as
34
COPA
CENTE
the 2nd best 3rd placed team,
before being eliminated by
Argentina in the quarter finals,
scoring just one goal throughout
their time in the tournament.
On the plus side, defender
Jeison Murillo won the
competition’s Best Young Player
award and will feature in this
year’s tournament on the back of
a solid season with Inter Milan.
La Tricolor’s frontline is likely
to be lead by AC Milan’s Carlos
Bacca, who found the back of
the net 16 times in Serie A this
season, with Dortmund’s Adrian
Ramos and Juventus’ Juan
Cuadrado providing support.
James Rodriguéz will be the
man that Colombia look towards
to produce something special,
central to the nation’s strong
2014 World Cup performance,
James earnt a move to Real
Madrid in the August following
the tournament, but has seen
minutes limited under recently
appointed Real boss Zinedine
Zidane.
An inspiring performance in
the USA could earn himself a
place back in Zidane’s plans, or
put him in the shop window for
a potential move elsewhere.
Chile
The reigning Champions
showed the value of performing
as a team in their home country
last year, triumphing over
Messi’s Argentina in the final,
but that’s not to say they don’t
have star names of their own.
Despite being embroiled in
controversy after crashing his
car in a drink driving incident,
Arturo Vidal was vital to the
country’s successes, along with
Arsenal’s Alexis Sánchez and
last year’s top scorer Eduardo
Vargas.
Along with the offensive
flair, they have the reigning
goalkeeper of the tournament
in Claudio Bravo between the
sticks, which amounts to a
difficult challenge for any side
to relinquish the Copa América
from Chile’s grasp.