In any tournament, the points a team earns in the group stage have no impact on the knockout stage. A team with nine points is not handed any inherent advantage over a team with three, except for a theoretically easier draw in their first knockout stage game. It’s not profound to say that it’s the point where Copa America starts over and the real tournament begins -- that’s the case for every tournament.
Copa America is about to hit a reset button
This tournament hasn’t been good. That’s probably about to change.
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But this is especially the case in this edition of Copa America,in which no one has a clear advantage. Chile and Argentina's reward for winning their groups were quarterfinals against fellow big teams and World Cup qualifiers, Uruguay and Colombia. For finishing second in their groups, perpetual CONMEBOL basement dwellers Bolivia and Peru drew each other. And on form, Paraguay look like the toughest non-group winner Brazil could have possibly drawn. No one heads into the quarterfinal with an obviously favorable draw.
This tournament also feels like it could get extremely random, with none of the top sides looking convincing and the underachievers showing signs of life. Before the tournament, the trio of Chile, Brazil and Argentina looked like a clear top three, with Colombia capable of playing spoiler for the hosts. Now, a wildly disappointing Colombia are in the other half of the bracket, Brazil have to soldier on without Neymar and Chile look eminently beatable after their 3-3 draw with a bad Mexico B team.
For a multitude of reasons, this has been a bad tournament. One of the biggest stars got tossed out, Luis Suarez was never allowed to compete (correctly) and the host country’s best player got busted for drinking and driving. Even though none of the favorites have looked good, it’s not like they’ve been overtaken by a lovable underdog, playing beautiful football. There’s just little to love or get excited about to this point.
That's all the bad news. Here's the good news: everyone's smacking the reset button, and this might get really good now. Even though he hasn't won a major tournament in an Argentina shirt yet, must-win game Lionel Messi is always spectacular. Brazil won a game without Neymar, and can play without dwelling too much on his absence. Colombia finally subbed the totally ineffective Radamel Falcao at the end of their match against Venezuela. Uruguay tried a different tactic in their last group stage game. And Chile, while they weren't exactly playing a formidable opponent, did just win their last game 5-0.
Copa America has been taking a nap for the last 10 days, but it’s rolling around and showing signs of waking up. Soon, it’ll start scrolling through Twitter on its phone in bed until someone yells at it to move, and then we’ll find out whether it feels like doing something this year.
Colombia can finally bench Falcao. Edinson Cavani can become El Matador again. Robinho can remind the whole world that he actually still does play professional football. Arturo Vidal can make everyone forget he wrecked a Ferrari after drinking in the middle of a major tournament. The quarterfinals look totally unpredictable, and a great tournament might finally emerge.
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