Copa America 2011: Team Previews

At least recently, Argentina has been anything but a world power. They made it to the final in the last two Copa Americas, where they lost to Brazil both times, and that is nothing to be ashamed of, but prior to that they hadn’t even made the semifinals since their 1993 title. They haven’t made it to the semifinals of the World Cup since a final appearance in 1990 and in 2002 didn’t even make it out of the group stage. That’s hardly an elite team in the world.

The focus of the Argentina team will be Messi and for good season. He’s the best player in the world and coming off of the best season of his career. He scored 53 goals and added 24 assists as Barcelona won both La Liga and the UEFA Champions League. It was yet another great season in a great player’s career, but that hasn’t quite translated to his play with Argentina. He’s scored two goals for every three matches for Barcelona, but just one for every 3.25 matches for Argentina. If Argentina are to win Copa America, they will need a best player in the world tournament from the best player in the world.

Still, it’s not like Paraguay will miss him. Besides those three players, they also have youngster Federico Santander from Toulouse and Olimpia star Pablo Zeballos to pick from. In goal, defense, and in midfield, Paraguay have great quality in the starting lineup but minimal depth. At striker, they have both.

Up top, it seems as though Valdez may be the odd man out, with Santa Cruz and Barrios occupying the starting spots. Any two of the three would make a great tandem in a 4-4-2, but the experience of Santa Cruz along with the form of Barrios trumps Valdez, who is somewhere in the middle on both accounts.

Rarely, over the last couple of decades, have Colombian teams lacked talent. The most famous failing of the team is the 1994 World Cup, in which a world class Colombian side was upset by the United States, resulting in the tragic murder of Andres Escobar, but it is only their most high profile failing. The Colombian national team has underachieved at every single major tournament except for Copa America 2001, which they hosted and won. Many consider this victory tainted, as Argentina did not participate in the tournament due to safety concerns.

Colombia has a new generation of stars, and they are perhaps the most talented since the 1994 World Cup team. Radamel Falcao has been unbelievable over the last two seasons for FC Porto, culminating in him setting the scoring record for European competition in one season and winning the Europa League. He won’t have to do it alone, though, as all of Hugo Rodallega, Jackson Martinez and Dayro Moreno are excellent players.

This time around, Uruguay won’t be looking for just a fifth consecutive semifinal appearance. Sure, Brazil and Argentina remain the favorites, while Paraguay and Chile are tough teams, but Uruguay has a Copa America title on their minds and for good reason.

Few teams can claim the attacking talent of Uruguay with the aforementioned attacking trio of Forlan, Suarez and Cavani. Forlan didn’t just pick up the Golden Ball in the World Cup after tying for the tournament lead in scoring. He’s scored five times for Uruguay since. Suarez had three goals of his own at the World Cup and proved his quality at Liverpool this spring after dominating the Eredivisie for three and a half year. Oh yeah, and then there’s Cavani, often overlooked, but quickly becoming one of the best attackers there is with a sublime combination of size, speed and skill that helped him score 33 times for Napoli this season.

Copa America 2011 begins with hosts Argentina taking on Bolivia on July 1, leaving us plenty of time to talk about all of the teams involved in the competition before they kick off the tournament. Brazil and Argentina are the most glamorous teams in the world and more or less joint favorites for this competition, but there are plenty of other teams deserving of some recognition.

Yes, we’ll be covering Brazil and Argentina, but we’ll also be covering the other 10 teams involved in the tournament. After their entertaining performances in World Cup qualifying and the 2010 World Cup itself, both Uruguay and Chile deserve equal time, and the likes of Colombia, Paraguay, and invitees Mexico shouldn’t be left behind either.