The Copa America preliminary rosters were officially released this week for this summer’s grand South American tournament for the CONMEBOL region. All ten CONMEBOL members, plus two CONCACAF invitees, Jamaica and Mexico, will compete in Chile from June 11 through July 4 to become the champion of South America and represent the region at the 2017 Confederations Cup in Russia. This summer’s Copa America will be the 44th edition of the tournament and the first since 2011. The defending champions, Uruguay, have also won the most tournaments with 15 titles. The road to the CONMEBOL championship has begun and here are some thoughts regarding each of the teams’ preliminary rosters:
Argentina – No surprises on the preliminary roster from the favorites of the tournament. They perhaps have the most well-known group of players since 26 of the 30 players play in leagues outside of Argentina, 24 of them in Europe. Lionel Messi headlines the star studded list that includes Carlos Tevez, Sergio Aguero, Angel Di Maria, Javier Mascherano, Pablo Zabaleta and Marcos Rojo among others. The list of players includes 18 players from the 2014 World Cup runner up roster. Although it won’t be their first action with the national squad, Javier Pastore, Erik Lamela and Roberto Pereyra are in line to try and make the final cut after having break out years in Europe. Pereyra became a super sub for Juventus, Lamela was an on again off again regular for Tottenham, while Pastore became a key contributor for PSG.
Bolivia – You won’t find any household names on this squad as Bolivia has been going through some lean years. The last time Bolivia made it to the knockout rounds of the Copa America was 1997, when they hosted the tournament. The team hasn’t finished outside of the bottom two CONMEBOL World Cup qualifying table since the 2002 edition. The roster is made up of mostly domestic based players in the Bolivian league, 23 of the 30 players. The biggest name on the squad is 27 year old striker Marcelo Martins Moreno who currently plays for Changchun Yatai in China but has had stints in Brazil for Cruzeiro, Flamengo and Gremio and a three year stint in Europe playing for Shakhtar Donetsk, Werder Bremen and Wigan Athletic. All the hope of the nation rides on 18 year old AC Milan youth product Sebastian Gamarra, whom Filippo Inzaghi dubbed the “Bolivian Pirlo”, as he receives his first call up to the national team.
Brazil – The eight time South American champions will once again be one of the favorites of the tournament and will look to put an embarrassing end to last year’s World Cup into the distant past. New coach Dunga announced a 23 man roster a week earlier than needed, however, added an addition seven players to the original list in order to comply with Copa America preliminary roster guidelines. The group of 30 players is led by Barcelona’s Neymar, The PSG center back duo of Thiago Silva and David Luiz, along with the return call up of Orlando City’s Kaka and Santos’ Robinho. Robinho was the top goal scorer in the 2007 Copa America edition with six goals. Young up and coming players beginning to make names for themselves in Europe such as Philippe Coutinho, Douglas Costa, Felipe Anderson, Casemiro and Marquinhos all join the talented preliminary roster. The biggest omissions were the injured Chelsea midfielder Oscar, who will not be deemed to be in shape for the tournament, and Tottenham’s defensive midfielder Paulinho. Other notable veterans not called are goalkeeper Julio Cesar, defenders Daniel Alves and Maicon and striker Hulk.
Chile – This year’s tournament host will be hosting for the seventh time, good for second all time behind Argentina’s nine and tied with Uruguay. Coach Jorge Sampioli is going with a group of players that he trusts as he called up 19 of the 23 players he took to Brazil last Summer for the World Cup. The group of Chilean players is led by Arsenal’s Alexis Sanchez, Juventus’ Arturo Vidal and Barcelona Goalkeeper Claudio Bravo. The latter two won’t join the team until right before the tournament begins as they will be playing in the Champions League Final five days before Chile’s opening game. Looking at Chile’s preliminary roster and there is a lack of young up and coming talent, only three players are under the age of 25, Dinamo Zagreb young striker Angelo Henriquez, FC Twente’s Felipe Gutierrez, and Swedish-Chilean fullback Miiko Albornoz from Hannover. Veterans on the squad include 35 year old David Pizzaro from Fiorentina, Inter Milan’s Gary Medel, Mainz’ Gonzalo Jara, Atalanta striker Mauricio Pinilla and the midfield magician Jorge Valdivia from Brazil’s Palmeiras.
Colombia – No team in this year’s tournament has seen expectations rise so quickly in the span of one year than Colombia. After being one of the most entertaining teams in the 2014 World Cup, followed by brilliant individual seasons in 2014-2015. The World Cup golden boot winner, James Rodriguez, had a successful first year with Real Madrid and headlines a squad that includes plenty of stars in Europe. Players joining James on the preliminary roster are River Plate’s Teofilo Gutierrez, FC Porto’s Jackson Martinez, Sevilla’s Carlos Bacca, Chelsea’s Juan Cuadrado, Aston Villa’s Carlos Sanchez, Inter Milan’s Fredy Guarin, Flamengo’s Pablo Armero and Arsenal goalkeeper David Ospina. The wild card on the roster is captain Radamel Falcao who struggled all season to find his form with Manchester United, but a national treasure in Colombia and will be given every opportunity to lead his country as they seek only their second CONMEBOL championship. The main missing name from the preliminary roster is veteran defender Mario Yepes who retired from international play after last year’s World Cup. Yepes has the second most caps for Colombia, behind legend Carlos Valderrama.
Ecuador – One of three CONMEBOL members to have never won the South American Championship, goes into the Copa America with a new coach, Gustavo Quinteros, and a mixture of veterans, new faces, and a heavy representation of players from the domestic league’s defending champions, Emelec. The team’s most recognizable name is Manchester United’s Antonio Valencia, however, the real chemistry is between full back veteran Walter Ayovi of Mexico’s Pachuca and West Ham United’s Enner Valencia as they connected on two of the team’s three World Cup goals last summer. Watford’s Juan Carlos Paredes and Ecuador’s starting right back in last summer’s World Cup is on the preliminary squad along with Midfielder Jefferson Montero from Swansea City. There are eight Emelec players on the squad, which makes sense since Quinteros was their coach before taking over the national team earlier this year. The largest omission is striker Felipe Caicedo from Espanyol who will miss the tournament due to injury.
Jamaica – The CONCACAF squad are first time invitees to the tournament and their head coach, Winfred Schafer, has called up, what amounts to, the country’s A squad despite having a tight turnaround and playing in the CONCACAF Gold Cup that begins on July 7, three days after the Copa America final. The Jamaican preliminary team is a mixture of North American and European based players. Six current MLS players including Houston Dynamo’s in form Giles Barnes and his teammate in Houston, the veteran Jermaine Taylor. The other MLS players are Vancouver’s Darren Mattocks, Dallas’ Je-Vaughn Watson, New York Red Bull Kemar Lawrence and Portland Timber right back Alvas Powell. There is a healthy dose of players in England’s Premier League and Championship League as well including, former MLS player, Simon Dawkins from Derby County and Leicester City center back Wes Morgan to name a few. One more MLS connection is the youngest player on the Preliminary roster, Michael Seaton, currently on loan from D.C. United at Orebro SK in the Swedish league. The snubs on this roster include two MLS players; forward Dane Richards from New York Red Bulls and defender Demar Phillips from Real Salt Lake, perhaps due to playing time or to be saved as reinforcements for the Gold Cup. Rookie Montreal Impact player Romario Williams was also left off the squad. He was the third overall pick in the MLS Super Draft this year and still learning the professional game, but like Richards and Phillips, he may still see his name called up for the Gold Cup.
Mexico – Head Coach Miguel Herrera has made it clear that Mexico expects nothing less than a semifinal appearance in the Copa America. Unfortunately, it looks like they saved all their top players for the Gold Cup, making their task that much harder in Chile. Rafa Marquez headlines the list of players on the preliminary roster, which includes 26 domestic based players. Outside of Marquez and Cruz Azul goalkeeper Jesus Corona, no other player has more than 30 caps for the national team. Raul Jimenez from Atletico Madrid, Javier Aquino from Rayo Vallecano and Marco Fabian from Chivas are the only other players with caps in the 20’s. The sentimental favorite to make the team is Midfielder Luis Montes from Leon who was on last year’s World Cup Preliminary squad before breaking his leg and missing the entire tournament and half the season this year. Former Real Salt Lake player, 21 year old Carlos Salcedo of Chivas is also on the preliminary roster. Herrera will go with few striker options outside of Jimenez as Vicente Matias Vuoso, Enrique Esqueda and Eduardo Herrera have not had much national team experience, 21 games between the three. Herrera shows the most upside of the three as Vuoso is 33 and Esqueda is making his first appearance with national team since 2010. The likes of Chicharito Hernandez, Giovani Dos Santos, Carlos Vela, Oribe Peralta, Hector Herrera, Miguel Layun and Andres Guardado will be saved for the CONCACAF Gold Cup.
Paraguay – the 2011 Copa America runners up have been on a slide since that 2011 run to the final. Some may argue that the slide began long before that since Paraguay made it to the Copa America final without winning a single game in regulation. Their only two wins in the tournament were in the knockout stages via penalties before eventually losing to Uruguay in the final. The 2015 Preliminary squad named by new coach Ramon Diaz is headlined by veteran captain Roque Santa Cruz and 37 year old goalkeeper Justo Villar, currently playing for Colo Colo in Chile. The list of forwards are national team staples in Oscar Cardozo (Trabzonspor), Nelson Haedo Valdez (Eintracht Frankfurt), Edgar Benitez (Toluca) and Lucas Barrios (Montpellier) and Bundesliga surprise Raul Bobadilla from Augsburg. The Club America trio of Osvaldo Martinez, Miguel Samudio and Pablo Aguilar bring big game experience. Other returning veterans on the list include defender Paulo Da Silva from Toluca and midfielder Victor Caceres from Flamengo. The biggest snubs are veteran midfielder Cristian Riveros who has 90 caps for his country and two young rising stars in 19 year old Roma striker Antonio Sanabria and 22 year old future national team center back Gustavo Gomez, currently plying his trade for Lanus in Argentina.
Peru – The White and Red “La Blanquirroja” finished in third place in 2011, unfortunately, that success did not translate to world cup qualifying as Peru finished in seventh place out of ten teams. Now armed with a new coach, Argentinian Ricardo Gareca, they will look to jump start their national program and repeat, if not improve, on the 2011 results. The preliminary squad is headlined by the 2011 golden boot winner Paolo Guerrero from Corinthians. Guerrero is joined by fellow European players Juan Vargas from Fiorentina, Jefferson Farfan from Schalke 04 and 36 year old veteran striker Claudio Pizarro from Bayern Munich. Unfortunately, Peru has struggled to find a supporting cast for their star players and will need to look within to find them as 18 players on the roster play in the domestic league. Defending domestic champions, Sporting Cristal, had four players named including striker Irven Avila, considered the top player in the domestic league, and national goalkeeper Diego Penny. An interesting inclusion is that of 20 year old midfielder Cristian Benavente who plays for Real Madrid Castilla and has been part of Real Madrid’s youth system since a young age. He may be given a chance to show what he has and a potential future staple of the national team.
Uruguay – The defending champions will look to defend their title without their most their nation’s best player, Luis Suarez, as he continues to serve his suspension as a result of last summer’s biting incident at the World Cup. Head coach Oscar Tabarez, has had the luxury of overseeing the national team during a golden generation that may only have a small window left open to do something special. Even without Suarez, Uruguay have a talented preliminary roster headlined by PSG striker Edison Cavani and Atletico Madrid center back Diego Godin. Benfica’s Maxi Pereira has 100 caps for the national team, good for second all-time and only 12 less than the all-time leader, Diego Forlan. Veterans of the last Copa America and last Summer’s World Cup such as Estudiantes’ Alvaro Pereira, Sunderland’s Sebastian Coates, Gremio’s Cristian Rodriguez, Tigres’ Egidio Arevalo Rios, Napoli’s Walter Gargano, Hull City’s Abel Hernandez and Galatasaray goalkeeper Fernando Muslera are all on the list. Uruguay have some young talent they are looking to introduce to the national team in 21 year old center back Gaston Silva of Torino, 21 year old striker Jonathan Rodriguez of Benfica and 22 year old striker Diego Rolan of Bordeaux. Outside of Luis Suarez’ absence, Juventus’ Martin Caceres will be missed as he is recovering from injury.
Venezuela – The only team in CONMEBOL to never qualify for a World cup or crack the top 3 in Copa America or South America Championship history, will look to build upon their best finish ever after coming in fourth place in 2011. New Head Coach Noel Sanvicente talked captain Juan Arango to come back out of international retirement and is currently on the preliminary roster. The Tijuana player is joined by a group of players with a little more foreign experience than the national team is known for. Zenit Saint Petersburg’s Salomon Rondon has proven he can score in Europe while the team’s most reliable defender, Oswaldo Vizcarrondo from Nantes, is also on the roster. A pair of Serie A players in Striker Josef Martinez, who enjoyed a breakout season at Torino, and Genoa’s midfielder Tomas Rincon will be joined by Philadelphia Union striker Fernando Aristeguieta, Rayo Vallecano’s Miku Fedor, Malaga’s Roberto Rosales and Middlesbrough defender Fernando Amorebieta. Domestic league players such as Yohandry Orozco, Rafael Acosta and Edder Farias, had good seasons and the hope is that their domestic form translates to good play in the tournament. The biggest snub is perhaps one player who wasn’t eligible when the preliminary roster deadline was due, but became eligible hours afterwards, Real Valladolid and former Barcelona academy player Jeffren Suarez. After snubbing the Venezuelan national team for the past eight years, Suarez has finally agreed to switch from Spain to Venezuela and will be available to play for his nation of birth after Copa America.
Teams will need to trim their rosters down to 23 players by June 1.
