By Weston Irons Posted April 27, 2016
This summer, the competition of a lifetime, or rather the century, is coming to the United States, Copa America Centenario. Normally, FIFA holds a Copa America every four years but since this will be the 100-year anniversary of the tournament, it will be held again this year after having the competition just last year. Sixteen of the best nations from the Americas will come together and play until only one remains.
The tournament is nearly a month long and begins June 3 and does not end until June 26. Each one of the sixteen teams is divided into groups of four, World Cup style, to make up four groups. Each team will then play each other in their respective group and the top two teams will move on. From there it is single elimination and the last team standing wins the Copa America. So who has the physicality, mentality, depth, and above all, heart, to move on past the group stages?
GROUP A
United States
Colombia
Costa Rica
Paraguay
This is easily the most grueling group of the competition not because it features the best teams but features teams of very similar quality. It will be an all-out war to make it into the next round and the USA finds themselves right in the middle of it. It is not going to be an insurmountable task but it is definitely going to be tough for the American Outlaws to move, especially in their recent form. If the US brings their best lineup they can get the job done but they need to be on the top of their game or this tournament could go very bad. The first match of the Copa Centenario includes the USA and Colombia. Colombia will most likely get one of the two spots to move on. The Colombian National Team includes the likes of breakout World Cup star, James Rodriguez and Jackson Martinez, two of the world’s most deadly attackers. Paraguay and Costa Rica are not too well known in the footballing world but both will be just as tenacious as the other two teams. Costa Rica surprised everyone by making it all the way into the quarterfinals in the 2014 World Cup and has been on the rise. Costa Rican goalkeeper Keylor Navas has been having an incredible year with Real Madrid and will be tough to score on. Paraguay are similar to Costa Rica in the sense that they are also on the rise.
GROUP B
Brazil
Ecuador
Haiti
Peru
Taking a look at this group, there is an obvious giant among minnows. Brazil will easily roll over these teams and move into the next round with that top spot in the group. Neymar, Thiago Silva, Diego Alves, and Hulk are just some of the names that will most likely be in their 23. After Brazil’s World Cup meltdown in 2014, they are itching to get a major cup and they have a good chance of doing that this year. It will be an all-out brawl for the second position though as three smaller countries go at it. Being a very small country, Haiti has actually been doing pretty well for themselves lately. They have been winning games and have been dropping games to large countries by a very small margin. Ecuador currently sits at 12th in the FIFA world rankings which really is pretty surprising. They look most likely to move on to the next round with Brazil. Peru will have a hard time getting through but have just as much of a chance as Haiti and Ecuador. Sitting at 37 years old and currently playing for Bayern Munich, Claudio Pizzaro will return to captain his team and hopefully try and win some silverware after his imminent retirement is coming very soon. This should be an interesting group.
GROUP C
Mexico
Uruguay
Jamaica
Venezuela
The first two groups will offer a high level of entertainment and Group C will be no different. Mexico has been looking to become a world power in the sport of soccer and has been somewhat unstoppable for a while now. They defeated the USA 3-2 on US soil back in the fall and also won the Gold Cup over Jamaica during the summer. They have a very promising roster and are very resilient. They will most likely have one of the two spots. Uruguay has who is considered one of the best goal-scorers in the world right now, Luis Suarez. Although Luis Suarez is known for his in-game “antics” it is hard to deny he will be the lead man for this side. Jamaica and Venezuela are fairly average teams. The Reggae Boyz don’t have much of a history as they haven’t really won a whole lot of major competitions but they were the runner-up in the Gold Cup last year so maybe that is a sign of good things to come. Venezuela has appeared in 15 Copa Americas and only came in fourth once in 2011. It will be interesting to see what Venezuela brings to the group.
GROUP D
Argentina
Chile
Panama
Bolivia
The final group has a lot of things going for it which makes it the cherry on top. First of all, it contains one of the best, if not the best, goalscorers of all time, Lionel Messi. Argentina’s star is a renowned athlete worldwide and is arguably the best player in the world although you could make a case for Cristiano Ronaldo. Another little enticing tidbit about this group is it contains Chile, the team that defeated Argentina in the Copa America nearly a year ago, and Argentina will be eager to get back at them. Chile is a very good opposition though. With a fast, skilled, and truly talented young forward Alexis Sanchez, they will be a very hard team to stop offensively. Another stand-out player is Arturo Vidal in the midfield who is an absolute tank. Between the goalposts Claudio Bravo, a very experienced goalkeeper is having some of his best years right now. Unfortunately for Panama and Bolivia, they don’t stand much of a chance against competition as tough as Argentina and Chile.
