The final installment of the Copa America Outlook takes a closer peek at Group C.
The 44th edition of CONMEBOL’s Copa America is set to kick off on Thursday, June 11 in the Estadio Nacional in Santiago, Chile and culminate three weeks later on July 4 in the same location.
The tournament consists of all ten CONMEBOL member nations and two invitees, Mexico and Jamaica. The twelve teams have been divided into three groups of four. Below is a look at Group C:
Two of the tournament favorites have been pitted together in this group, along with two surprise teams from the 2011 edition. Eight time champions Brazil are joined by Colombia, Peru and Venezuela. From the outside, this looks like a group that will be dominated by the two big teams, however, Peru and Venezuela finished third and fourth place, respectively in Copa America 2011, with Peru having the Golden Boot winner, Paolo Guerrero. Group C will be the only group with contests held in Temuco, the southernmost host city of the tournament, where average temperatures will be in the mid 50’s during the day and mid 40’s at night.
Copa America Outlook: Group C
Brazil
The sting from the way in which they finished their World Cup run at home last summer is still fresh in the public’s eyes, however, those who think this team is the same one that lost 7-1 to Germany and 3-0 to Netherlands, probably don’t realise that Brazil has won nine games in a row since the World Cup. New coach Dunga, on his second term leading the selecao, has gone back to fundamentals and purged the squad of many of the players aged 30 or over that the world saw demolished by the World Champions last year. Gone are starting strikers Fred and Hulk, aging defenders Maicon and Dani Alves and Goalkeeper Julio Cesar. Dunga has brought in a slew of youngsters and players who haven’t seen a lot of national action such as 30 year old players Diego Tardelli and Fernandinho (10 caps each), 26 year old Everton Ribeiro (4 caps) and two goalkeepers without a single cap between them in Neto and Marcelo Grohe. Liverpool’s Phillipe Coutinho gets a chance to showcase his talents at an international stage and could solidify himself as a regular on the national starting team in this tournament. Brazil has won this tournament eight times, the last in 2007, while they didn’t make it out of the quarterfinals in 2011 as they lost to Paraguay on penalties.
Roster:
Goalkeepers: Marcelo Grohe (Gremio/BRA), Jefferson (Botafogo/BRA), Neto (Fiorentina/ITA)
Defenders: Danilo (Porto/POR), Fabinho (Monaco/FRA), Geferson (Internacional/BRA), Filipe Luis (Chelsea/ENG), David Luiz (PSG/FRA), Marquinhos (PSG/FRA), Miranda (Atletico Madrid/ESP), Thiago Silva (PSG/FRA)
Midfielders: Casemiro (Porto/POR), Douglas Costa (Shakhtar Donetsk/UKR), Coutinho (Liverpool/ENG), Elias (Corinthians/BRA), Felipe Anderson (Lazio/ITA), Fernandinho (Manchester City/ENG), Roberto Firmino (Hoffenheim/GER), Fred (Shakhtar Donetsk/UKR), Everton Ribeiro (Al-Ahli/UAE), Willian (Chelsea/ENG)
Forwards: Neymar (Barcelona/ESP), Robinho (Santos/BRA), Diego Tardelli (Shandong Luneng/CHN)
Prediction: Neymar is the x-factor for this team. The eight time champions will look better than last summer but will run in to a buzzsaw in the semi-finals; in the form of host nation Chile who played Brazil tough in the World Cup Round of 16 last summer or the tournament’s team of destiny, Argentina. Brazil is good enough to finish third place in this tournament, which should create a good building block for Dunga’s team.
Colombia
Last year’s World Cup breakout star, James Rodriguez, headlines a Colombian team that suddenly finds themselves going into the Copa America with high expectations after last year’s Quarterfinals appearance in Brazil. The front line of Colombia is an outright goal scoring assault that Group C teams are going to have to protect themselves against. Carlos Bacca helped lead Sevilla to a successful defense of their Europa League title as he scored 7 goals in the tournament, and 28 goals in all competitions. Jackson Martinez scored 20 goals for FC Porto with 7 of those in the Champions League and is currently being linked with a high-profile move to Arsenal. Teofilo Gutierrez scored 16 goals for River Plate last year and already has 5 goals in 7 games played for them this year. Not to mention that James Rodriguez had a successful first season with Real Madrid as an attacking midfielder scoring 17 goals in all competitions and 16 assists. Players like Radamel Falcao and Juan Cuadrado are coming into the tournament after tough seasons in which they saw their playing time dwindle as both made moves to the English Premier League. Colombia made it to the Quarterfinals of last year’s World Cup and in 2011 they made it to the same stage of the Copa America before being eliminated by Peru with two extra time goals, 2-0.
Goalkeepers: Cristian Bonilla (La Equidad/COL), David Ospina (Arsenal/ENG), Camilo Vargas (Atletico Nacional/COL)
Defenders: Darwin Andrade (Standard Liege/BEL), Santiago Arias (PSV/NED), Pablo Armero (Flamengo/BRA), Pedro Franco (Besiktas/TUR), Jeison Murillo (Granada/ESP), Carlos Valdes (Nacional/URU), Cristian Zapata (AC Milan/ITA), Juan Camilo Zúñiga (Napoli/ITA)
Midfielders: Edwin Cardona (Monterrey/MEX), Juan Guillermo Cuadrado (Chelsea/ENG), Alexander Mejia (Monterrey/MEX), James Rodriguez (Real Madrid/ESP), Carlos Sanchez (Aston Villa/ENG), Edwin Valencia (Santos/BRA)
Forwards: Carlos Bacca (Sevilla/ESP), Radamel Falcao (Manchester United/ENG), Teofilo Gutierrez (River Plate/ARG), Victor Ibarbo (Roma/ITA), Jackson Martinez (Porto/POR), Luis Muriel (Sampdoria/ITA)
Prediction: Jose Pekerman brings back 15 of the 23 players he guided in Brazil last summer, the loss of centre back and captain Mario Yepes to retirement will hurt Colombia. They have the talent to score goals but the big question is whether they will be able to keep opponents from scoring. For those wanting to see Colombia rise as the next big South American team, the weight of those expectations will be too much for this squad that will only be saved by a 4th place finish.
Peru
New Peru coach, Ricardo Gareca, has elected to go with a club balance of 13 players from the domestic league and 10 who play beyond Peru’s borders, nine of them in Europe. Peru also brings 8 players from their 2011 third place finishing club, including winger Juan Manuel Vargas, defensive midfielder Josepmir Ballon, and the Copa America 2011 golden boot winner Paolo Guerrero. Surprisingly two of the nation’s biggest strikers, Claudio Pizarro and Jefferson Farfan were not on that 2011 team due to injury and coach’s decision. While they may no longer be 90 minute options for three games in one week, the ability to bring one or both of them off the bench late in a game is a luxury that other teams in the tournament will envy. Gareca plans to go with three forwards up top, tabbing Farfan, Guerrero and Carrillo as his most likely trio to head the attack. Peru have made it out of the Group stage in six straight Copa Americas, 1995 in Uruguay being the last time they failed to make it out.
Goalkeepers: Pedro Gallese (Juan Aurich/PER), Salomon Libman (Universidad Cesar Vallejo/PER), Diego Penny (Sporting Cristal/PER)
Defenders: Luis Advincula (Vitoria Setubal/POR), Jair Cespedes (Juan Aurich/PER), Christian Ramos (Juan Aurich/PER), Pedro Paulo Requena (Universidad Cesar Vallejo/PER), Hansell Riojas (Universidad Cesar Vallejo/PER), Yoshimar Yotun (Malmo/SWE), Carlos Zambrano (Eintracht Frankfurt/GER)
Midfielders: Carlos Ascues (Melgar/PER), Josepmir Ballon (Sporting Cristal/PER), Christian Cueva (Alianza Lima/PER), Paolo Hurtado (Pacos de Ferreira/POR), Carlos Lobaton (Sporting Cristal/PER), Edwin Retamoso (Real Garcilaso/PER), Joel Sanchez (Universidad San Martin/PER), Juan Manuel Vargas (Fiorentina/ITA)
Forwards: Andre Carrillo (Sporting Lisbon/POR), Jefferson Farfan (Schalke 04/GER), Paolo Guerrero (Flamengo/BRA), Claudio Pizarro (Bayern Munich/GER), Yordy Reyna (RB Leipzig/GER)
Prediction: In 2011, Peru advanced out of the group stage as the best third place team. Their win over Mexico’s Olympic team was the difference between advancing and an early elimination, meaning that they have to beat Venezuela in their group stage to have any chance of advancement and then find a way to tie Brazil or Colombia in their two games. Peru should have comfort in being able to cause Colombia’s back line some trouble and they should beat Venezuela. Therefore, Peru should advance to the quarterfinals for a seventh Copa America in a row.
Venezuela
Coming off their best Copa America result ever, fourth place in 2011, Venezuela looks to shock the region, and the world. Venezuela is one of three CONMEBOL teams to have never won a Copa America and the only CONMEBOL team to have never qualified for the World Cup either. The one constant through Venezuela’s lean years over the past fifteen years is their captain, Juan Arango, who with over 120 national caps and experience playing in Liga MX, Spain’s La Liga and Germany’s Bundesliga, has been the country’s best player. Coach Noel Sanvicente talked Arango out of international retirement to rejoin the team and help lead them in the Copa America. Arango’s set pieces are a thing of beauty and perhaps the most underrated set piece taker in the world will be counted upon to be a big part of the team’s offense. Venezuela is hoping that their strength will be their suddenly talented stable of strikers, Salomon Rondon, Josef Martinez and Nicolas Fedor. Defensive midfielder Tomas Rincon was a big contributor for his club team, Genoa, in Italy’s Serie A this past season, playing in 29 games, starting 27 of them; and he will be counted upon to provide assistance for a back four in dire need of it. The back line has never been Venezuela’s strong point and Sanvicente has now put in place a more attacking strategy as opposed to the defensive one the team was used to under former coach, Cesar Farias.
Roster:
Goalkeepers: Alain Baroja (Caracas FC/VEN), Wuilker Fariñez (Caracas FC/VEN), Dani Hernandez (Tenerife/ESP)
Defenders: Fernando Amorebieta (Middlesbrough/ENG), Wilker Angel (Deportivo Tachira/VEN), Gabriel Cichero (Mineros de Guayana/VEN), Grenddy Perozo (Ajaccio/FRA), Roberto Rosales (Malaga/ESP), Andres Tuñez (Buriram United/THA), Oswaldo Vizcarrondo (Nantes/FRA)
Midfielders: Rafael Acosta (Mineros de Guayana/VEN), Juan Arango (Tijuana/MEX), Cesar Gonzalez (Deportivo Tachira/VEN), Alejandro Guerra (Atletico Nacional/COL), Franklin Lucena (Deportivo La Guaira/VEN), Jhon Murillo (Benfica/POR), Tomas Rincon (Genoa/ITA), Luis Manuel Seijas (Santa Fe/COL)
Forwards: Nicolas Fedor (Rayo Vallecano/ESP), Josef Martinez (Torino/ITA), Gelmin Rivas (Deportivo Tachira/VEN), Salomon Rondon (Zenit Saint Petersburg/RUS)
Prediction: The various changes being made by Coach Sanvicente may pay off in the long run, but recent losses in friendlies to Peru, Jamaica, Honduras and Bolivia show that the team needs more time to adapt to his new system. He has come out and said that the goal is to prepare for the World Cup qualifiers, therefore, this tournament isn’t even the priority. Venezuela will continue to struggle, especially against Brazil and Colombia, and unfortunately will not make it out of the group stage.
Group Player Statistics:
Most Caps by a national team player: Venezuela’s Juan Arango – 124
Most National Team Goals: Brazil’s Neymar – 43
Oldest Player: Peru’s Claudio Pizarro – 36 years old (251 days)
Youngest Player: Venezuela’s Wuilker Fariñez – 17 years old (116 days)
Club Most Represented in the Group: 7 clubs have 3 players in Group C (Chelsea, Deportivo Tachira, Juan Aurich, Paris Saint-Germain, Porto, Sporting Cristal, Universidad Cesar Vallejo)
Keep up with Last Word on Sports’ Copa America Previews:
