2015 Copa America. Chile crowned.

We expect flair, excitement, and magic when we think about South American players. I am not saying that is what we got, but that is what we expect. Chile hosted the Copa America for the 7th time. And for the first time in awhile, they really had a good shot at the prestigious trophy.

12 teams from 2 confederations divided into three groups of four, participated in the 2015 Copa America. CONMEBOL and CONCACAF came together to give us a mouthwatering spectacle.

Participating teams

•         Argentina ( favorite)
•         Bolivia
•         Brazil ( questionable favorite)
•         Chile (golden generation)
•         Colombia (emerging favorite)
•         Ecuador
•         Jamaica
•         Mexico (time to be a bride)
•         Paraguay
•         Peru
•         Uruguay (defending champions)
•         Venezuela

There were a few pre-tournament favorites out to the 12 teams that were in contention.  Uruguay, Argentina, and Brazil are always favorite in this tournament.

Uruguay had a title to defend, but without their star man. Luis Suarez as serving his ban for the biting of Italian defender Giorgio Chiellini on 24 June 2014 during the final ‘Group D 2014 Fifa World Cup match. This made the quest for their 16th title a little harder. They only managed a win in the 2015 Copa America. This win came in their first match, which was against their lowest ranked side; Jamaica. This was definitely what we expect from a decorated futbol nation like Uruguay.

Argentina came into the Copa America as silver medal winners in the 2014 Fifa World Cup,  the team that had the most potent offensive side on paper, some guy know as Lionel Messi, and the ranking by Fifa as the best in CONMEBOL. Yes, it would be foolish of you not to expect great things from this team.  Expectations for a great tournament was natural.  Argentina came into the tournament with the goal of winning a major international title after failing to secure the Fifa World Cup on the land of their major rival, Brazil. The Argentines also had to catch up with Uruguay, to share the position of the most successful team in the competition.

The 8x winners; Brazil had some rebuilding to do. After the humiliating exit from the 2014 Fifa World Cup they hosted, the fear factor about the Selecao had dwindled a little.  But with the return of their coach Carlos Dunga, Brazil hadn’t suffered a loss before the Copa America tournament. No matter what the ranking tells us, Brazil will always be a contender. Despite losing their second match to Colombia, which was also the game that their star man Neymar received a red card and a ban that knocked him out of the tournament, Brazil still ended up topping Group C.

Colombia’s golden generation does not put anything past them. On any given day, they can beat any team in the world. They came into the competition with their top goal scorer Radamel Falcao, not a lot of Colombian fans will be ecstatic about that in recent times (Oh how times have changed). Colombia, however, had their maestro and skipper; James Rodriguez. There were lots of hope for the team. Their best moment in the competition was their group stage victory against beating a Brazil side that was undefeated under their manager Carlos Dunga.  The team was flat, and the statistics will agree.

Chile had the best offense in the competition. They kept their attacking style of play against all opposition. Chile ended the completion with 13 goals (with the exception of penalty kickoffs) Argentina follows with 10 goals (with the exception of penalty kickoffs)

Colombia had the best defense. Colombia conceded just 1 goal (with the exception of penalty kickoffs) throughout their whole tournament. After Bigilia missing his game-winning penalty kick for Argentina, who knows what would have happened had Murillo converted his penalty? Colombia was a kick away from advancing to the semi-final. Who can predict what they would have done if they had advanced to the next round with such a tight defense?

Guest Teams

Invited teams are yet to walk away with the trophy. Then again, not a very strong team will get an invite. Mexico and Jamaica were the two teams invited from CONCACAF to join the participating CONMEBOL teams.

Mexico has so far been the greediest invitee. They’ve come in 2nd on two occasions in the Copa America, which is the closest any invited side has gotten to rob a CONMEBOL side from having the trophy. This edition of the Copa America was one that saw all the invited teams finish bottom of their respective table.

The two teams from CONCACAF that contested for the continental trophy failed to secure a win. Jamaica lost in all their matches. They were the only team to exit the tournament without a point. (They will later pull repay their fans with a very impressive run at the CONCACAF Gold CUP competition)

Group A after 3 matches

1.        Chile  (2) Wins, (1) Draw, (0) Loss = 7 points
2.        Bolivia (1) Win (1) Draw, (1) Loss = 4 points
3.        Ecuador (1) Win, (0) Draw, (2) Losses = 3 points
4.        Mexico (0) Win, (2) draws, (1) Loss = 2 points

Group B after 3 matches

1.        Argentina (2) Wins, (1) Draw, (0) Loss = 7 points
2.        Paraguay (1) Win (2) Draws), (0) Loss = 5 points
3.        Uruguay (1) Win (1) Draw, (1) Loss = 4 points
4.        Jamaica (0) Wins (0) Draw (0) Loss = 0 points

Group C after 3 matches

1.        Brazil (2) Wins, (0) Draw, (1) Loss = 6 points
2.        Peru (1) Win, (1) Draw, (1) Loss = 4 points
3.        Colombia (1) Win (1) Draw, (1) Loss = 4 points
4.        Venezuela (1) Win, (1) Draw, (1) Loss = 3 points

The host was the only undefeated side throughout the competition. The only blemish to Chile’s almost perfect tournament was a ‘3-3’ draw to Mexico. With the exception of the final, Argentina was also a team that went undefeated. Unlike Chile, they couldn’t win all their matches within regulation time. They needed a penalty shootout to separate themselves from a very stubborn Colombian side.

It is no surprise that the two team will wind up contesting in the finale and that the finale will go down to the wire.  The 2015 Copa America had to be decided on penalties. Before the start of the tournament, the Argentines would have been easily tagged as  ‘favorites’.  But with win after win, and seeing how well Chile made use of their home advantage, it was a difficult one to call when the competition got to the final stage. Who in their right mind can confidently bet against a team that includes Lionel Messi.

After a goalless match, Chile won (4-1) on penalties. Fernandez, Vidal, Aranguiz, and Sanchez were the kick takers for Chile. All players converted their kicks into goals.

Messi, Higuain, and Banega were the designated penalty kickers for Argentina. Argentine fans can only congratulate Messi.

To be fair to Argentina, and the rest of the teams that had to face Chile, namely Bolivia, Ecuador, Mexico, Uruguay and Peru, Chile didn’t have to do a lot of traveling. Chile’s entire tournament was played in the one stadium, so home advantage was intensified. We can assume that playing as a team in the same stadium while your opposition had to travel to different stadiums for each of their matches gave the Chilean an extra home advantage.

Top Goal Scorers

1.        Eduardo Vargas (Chile) – 4 goals

Paola Guerrero (Peru) – 4 goals

2.       Sergio Aguero (Argentina) – 3 goals

Arturo Vidal (Chile) – 3 goals

Lucas Barrios (Paraguay) – 3 goals

2015 Copa America concluded as

1.        Chile
2.        Argentina
3.        Peru
4.        Paraguay