I'm pressed for time when it comes to these reviews for the Copa América Centenarío. Some of it has to do with being lazy and generally all around distracted. The thing is I've been here before so I have no worries. That has been my mantra in recent times. "I've been here before!" To me it's lyric to a song I know all to well. It reassures that I've faced a specific problem(s) before and 9 times out of 10 I've gotten passed it. In Group C we have Jamaica, Mexico, Uruguay and Venezuela nations who have been...well here before. Jamaica and her players have been in big games before. The Gold Cup final just last year and earlier they were taking their lumps in Chile at the Copa America. Mexico is getting familiar with Jamaica and will come across them again in a crunch time scenario. Yet another "I've been here before," moment. Before beating the Jamaicans in the Gold Cup to lift crown, they too were invited to Chile for the Copa America and like their CONCACAF adversaries they were thumped in South America. For Uruguay this is nothing new. They are use to coming into tournaments as favorites, maybe it be a World Cup or an intercontinental clash like this one. As for Venezuela they have locked horns with Mexico and Uruguay plenty of times and know what they are getting themselves into.
Group C
Jamaica
Mexico
Uruguay
Venezuela
Jamaica
I ripped Jamaica apart in my last review of them. They were taking part in the Copa America in Chile and they were up against it when they were wedged into a group with Argentina and Uruguay and Paraguay for good measure. I said they didn't have a sniff of a chance and I even broke out the Merriam-Webster dictionary to shame them. I wasn't in love with the fact that relied so heavily on players of Jamaican descendent. I preferred the born and bred Jamaicans and I took umbrage with the likes of Wes Morgan, Giles Barnes and Adrian Mariappa. Jamaica although they played well in Chile, points allude them. I was scathing towards the side because I believe they are the best Caribbean team and the standard bearers for the region. What I forgot to remember is that the Copa America isn't meant for Winfried Schaefer's men, the Gold Cup is! Jamaica were a game away from lifting the CONCACAF competition but Mexico took them down. A pretty big deal seeing that Jamaica weren't even in the conversation for the title. Dumping the United States was unexpected and the way the "Reggae Boyz," played was unconventional as well. It wasn't hurried at all they were very methodical in their approach not a trait associated with Caribbean squads. At this year's Copa I can see it going one of two ways for them. They play spoiler and really annoy the Mexicans and Uruguayans or they can duke it out with Venezuela for relevance. It's a coin toss at this point.
Key Man- Wes Morgan if I am correct is the first Jamaican/West Indian man to win a Premier League title. There is no doubt he is in the form of his life. The only problem is that Rudolph Austin isn't N'Kolo Kante and Andre Blake isn't Kasper Schmeichel.
Mexico
Mexico are in great form! To date they have kept eight straight international clean sheets. A tidy stat for a team that is historically average defenders. They are the reigning CONCACAF Gold Cup champions disposing of Jamaica last year in the final. They didn't have the best Copa America in Chile but they did take a probing squad with the more notable names being saved for the Gold Cup a moved that payed off in the end. Javier Hernandez, the face of the Mexican side is coming off one of the best years of his footballing career as he banged in the goals for his Bundesliga squad Bayer Leverkusen. His strike partner Oribe Peralta is a real shark and gets his goals. While team captain Andres Guardado has found a new life in Holland with PSV Eindhoven. Guillermo Ochoa has returned to his best form hard to believe he is 30 now. New coach Juan Carlos Osorio has even called up Rafa Marquez to add fatherly presence to his rearguard. Literally the stars are aligning for Mexico (couldn't help myself to a bad cliché) and this might be a trophy that is really viable for them. This group isn't easy but the wave of support, the locations of their games being in south western states of the US and the fact they come in off of winning a major FIFA tournament you could only think they are in good shape to go deep in the tournaments.
Key Man- The darling of Mexican football Javier "Chicharirto," Hernandez has been killing it over in Germany and I expect him to do the same over here. Really hoping coach Osorio does us a favor and pairs him with Oribe Peralta in a two pronged attack. That would be nice to see.
Uruguay
Uruguay come to the Copa without probably the best pure striker in the world Luis Suarez. A fact that has dented their hopes of maybe stealing away the cup back to Montevideo. Suarez scored a seismic 40 goals in a season for his side FC Barcelona last term and I don't care what team you play for you remove a guy that from your ranks you are going to be smarting. Nonetheless "Le Celeste," has to carry on and the objective is to actually win Copa América Centenarío. As I said in my little speech before Uruguay has been here before. They're punchy bunch and and tend to hit harder when they are overwhelmed or underestimated. They've won the World Cup before and have a knot of Copa America titles, 15 and counting on their CV. If anything they could be more dangerous without Suarez the Uruguayans hope everyone will take huge sighs of relief because he is not around. Óscar Tabárez longstanding coach of Uruguay will be hoping for just that so he can play the chess games he likes to play. At the last Copa America Uruguay were bested in a tumultuous affair with eventually cup winners Chile. A game that they felt they were cheated out of. Couple that with the fact their without their star man in Suarez that means they have a lot they want to get off their chest. Tabárez will look to Edison Cavani to provide the offensive and stardust to a generally pragmatic Uruguay. How they are going to capture the cup is anyone's guess but I have a sneaky feeling they might be there in the end.
Key Man- Edinson Cavan's chance to be Billy Big Boots is here. No Diego Forlan or Luis Suarez to rely on.It's team now...let's see how he gets on.
Venezuela
Alphabetically the last team in the Copa and forgive me for saying probably the last team you think of when it comes to South American football. Venezuela have wonderfully forgettable games despite having in my opinion, one the better forwards in the Copa América Centenarío in Solomon Rondon. I honestly do believe if Venezuela had to qualify for this tournament they would make a hard go of it. I'm dramatic sometimes but the need to highlight when things are wrong is a strong habit of mine and with Venezuela there isn't much right apart from the big man up top the aforementioned Sr. Rondon. The Venezuelan FA recently appointed former goalkeeper Rafael Dudamel as their head coach and he will look to turn around what has to be a pretty plain Venezuelan side he inherited from Noel Sanvincente. It's crazy because if you saw what I wrote about Venezuela a few months ago it's the polar opposite, it was quite complimentary. This last Copa America campaign when they finished dead last in Group C and the start they have made in World Cup qualifying has just left me over them. I think if you switched federations and let Guyana be in CONMEBOL and allow Venezuela to join CONCACAF I don't think anyone would bat an eye at this current moment. It's that dire. They have one point in World Cup qualifying for Russia 2018. Uruguay has 13 points in the same amount of games. I put my budding reputation on the line that in this tournament they won't win a game.
Key Man- You can't choose where you're born if that was the case we all would be cramped into Norway or Canada. Don't get me wrong Venezuela sounds like a swell place but not for football maybe baseball not so much football. Solomon Rondon is the shining light here without a doubt. I want to see him to well here in this little fling here in the States.
Predictions- Mexico 1st, Uruguay 2nd, Jamaica 3rd, Venezuela 4th. Mexico is basically playing a home game every time they step onto the pitch and they are in magical form. Uruguay is a big boy team but without Luis Suarez and having Edinson Cavani deputize they just won't be the same let alone take a group. Mexico already has Jamaica's number and Uruguay does too so I don't expect the West Indians to get enough points to advance. As for Venezuela we appreciate the color...you can leave your name tag next to the oreos when you leave.
I asked myself why do I write? Probably for the same reason why I use the word “I,” 79% of the time
when I start off a post. I am self absorbed. I know full well that I’m up against the likes of ESPN, Sky Sports and Fox Sports but still I plug on with my little blog. It would be easy to say I do it because I love it but if you know me I hate saying cliche stuff and there is no doubt that I do love getting on here and spreading what knowledge I have. Simply for me it’s more then that. I wanted to be apart of a long and great tradition of being a writer. Be I a bad or a good one, I have always wanted to be apart of this fraternity. I’m no different to any other young kid who wanted to be a soccer player. Of course they love to play but when they pick their idols they are essentially buying into the idea of the culture and induct themselves into game. Richard Stearman is not Cafu but who is not to say he does not have as much passion as the former. Talent is very important in everything, yes but the right to compete is even more powerful. In this Copa America sure I will make fun of the likes of Bolivia who will be put to the sword by their more lofty opponents but I will never question their right to be there. I hadn’t mentioned my actual writing skills but in an attempt to be a better communicator I will try to link the non football of the first few lines to the football jargon I came up with in the last few sentences...I actually can’t think of how I can do it so I’m just going to say I could do with a little more grammar classes at the local community college. Which I know can only help me in my crusade against goalkeepers who still where long pants while playing. I’m looking at you Gábor Király. It’s a shame...if you are a goalkeeper your still wearing long pants and it’s not 1978 and I’m pretty sure it’s not you should be arrested but that’s enough about that I have a group preview to do so let’s get to it. Before I do that just to show you how self absorbed I am the the word “I,” alone has been used 33 times just in this brief introduction. Just saying.
Group B
Argentina
Jamaica
Paraguay
Uruguay
Argentina
If you are familiar with football I really don’t have to sit here and waste my breathe about how great Argentina is because you already know. Now if that is not the case and you are new to the site and the soccer scene, let me put you on. Mind you this will be brief because Argentina is so good at the game that it really is self explanatory. Currently and this is debatable, the best player in the world is a fellow called Lionel Messi. Another debatable point is that countryman Diego Armando Maradona Franco is considered by a lot of people as being the best player who ever played the game. Sergio Agüero the father of Maradona's grandson is one of Europe’s elite strikers at the moment. Argentina has won the FIFA World Cup twice and since this the Copa America I’m talking about I think I should mention that the Argentines will be going for their 15th South American crown. Meaning they have won the continental competition 14 times. They have a strong domestic league almost on par with Europe. They tons of players playing in Europe and have a reputation of producing excellent footballers. Footballers that include the following: Nicolás Otamendi, Éver Banega, Carlos Tevez, Erik Lamela, Marcos Rojo, Pablo Zabaleta, Javier Pastore, Gonzalo Higuain and Ángel Di María. All of these fine gentlemen will be playing in Chile come June 11th and I didn’t even bother naming the rest because they are just as impressive. Now that the novices are up to speed with Argentina I can delve into the Patagonian nation’s chances. In my previous post I mentioned how Chile and Argentina are the only countries in South America to experience winter like conditions and how right now it is winter over there. I also mention how this will aid the Chileans and could boost their chances. Well if Chile is getting a boost I don’t know what the already overpowered Argentines will get. I could spout and say how the cool European like conditions will help Argentina but with all the stats and facts I laid down these guys don’t need any cheat codes. Argentina is a cheat code when it comes to this sport. Gerardo Martino is the current coach of the “Albiceleste,” a very strict and rigid coach but for all his pragmatic ways I can’t see him not letting Argentina’s attacking armada set sail. Brazil are the only team that can stand up to Argentina this time around and I fear for their chances. Argentina will win this tournament.
Key Man- Straight off the treble with FC Barcelona, Lionel Messi will look to cap a great season with a title for his country. Although ever brilliant, Messi does has his critics and they tend to be from within his homeland. Claims are that he has not always pulled out all the stocks when he is draped in sky blue and white of Argentina but rather leaves his magic in Catalonia. It has been a long year for him. Last year was the World Cup, a competition that saw the forward come up short in the final. A fact he will want to forget and this is the perfect chance. Fresh or fresh not Messi is just too good to discount.
Jamaica
antithesis
noun |
an·tith·e·sis | \an-ˈti-thə-səs\
:the exact opposite of something or someone
:the state of two things that are directly opposite to each other
This the definition of one of my favorite words according to the Merriam-Webster dictionary. Latin and Greek in origin the word “antithesis,” is as you see it above. I am actually very fond of the second definition. "The state of two things that are directly opposite to each other.” This being sport I think it is an appropriate meaning. Pitting two “states,” against each other. So why the English lesson? Well if you are observant you would see that lovely Jamaica Federation crest directly above our little “Word of the Day.” Above that logo is my detailed description of Argentina. If you read it you would know how glorious and illustrious Argentina is; they are truly the blue bloods of the game with few equals. Aristocrats, the Bourgeoisie or whatever antiquated fancy term you can think of. In contrast Jamaica are everything they are not. Few honors and what honors she does have don’t count for much. Jamaica's players sit at the fringes of Europe or settle for the pandering Major League Soccer. Millions if not billions know Leo Messi while a handful know Darren Mattocks. Jamaica is the antithesis of Argentina! One can even go a step further and say Jamaica literally and figuratively does not belong in the same company as Argentina. Harsh...I know but these are facts but yet I still feel a lot of hope for my Caribbean neighbor here. Let me explain for those who are lost on the last stanza. Jamaica belong to another FIFA qualifying zone called CONCACAF so it should not even be in this competition that is a CONMEBOL event, the federation in which Argentina is apart of. Like Mexico, Jamaica has been invited as a guest to take part in Chile. Looking at how I set up this preview on Jamaica you would think I have a vendetta against them but that is far from the case. I have the upmost respect and admiration for the men from the Greater Antilles and think they are the standard bearers for Caribbean football. This Copa America experience can only boost the island’s football pedigree and I didn’t always think so. I was skeptical about their chances but I stepped back and looked for positives. That being said I don’t think those pluses will outweigh the minuses at this tourney. This is a tough group and Jamaica isn’t lining up against Dominica, Bermuda and Grenada it will be Argentina, Paraguay and Uruguay, sides that savage even the best opponents. The man who will look to make Jamaica a real player in this Group B is German Winfried Schäfer who has an impressive coaching resume with the likes of VfB Stuttgart, Cameroon and Thailand on his dossier. Schäfer has chosen a Jamaican side full of European and North American based players. Most notable are Leicester’s Wes Morgan, Houston Dynamo’s Giles Barnes and New York Red Bulls’ Kemar Lawrence all of which had or are having tidy campaigns currently. These three if healthy will no doubt bring respectability to Jamaica’s Copa America.
Key Man- Argentina and Uruguay can be had at the back and don’t have the most mobile back lines. Vancouver Whitecaps' Darren Mattocks is very mobile and very strong. Balls over the top should be Jamaica’s game plan from the onset. This guy can get to them.
Paraguay
Over recent times I’ve grown a little disappointed in Paraguay simply because they just seem to be ticking along. I make sure I watch as much FIFA youth tournaments as I possibly can. The U-23s and U-20s are apart of my diet and I also particularly love to view the Toulon Tournament. At these tourneys Paraguay seem to be an ever present and each and every time I am absolutely blown away by their youth teams. I ogle at their young stars and rub my palms like a villain who is about to carry out the dirtiest of deeds. I legitimately look forward to see them playing for Paraguay senior team but for whatever reason they never make a clean transition. I don’t know what is wrong but to me and this is my tentative observation so don’t kill me. It seems that there is a disconnect between the youth set up and the full national team. I can comfortably say I am not an expert on Paraguayan football but I just want to know if the jump is too great for their young players or if they are not getting the best out of them right now. Paraguay a few years ago were to me at least the fourth best team in the region right behind Brazil, Argentina and Uruguay. Now Colombia and Chile have surpassed them and they are rubbing shoulders with dear I say Venezuela and Peru. They didn’t make the last World Cup in Brazil and in an attempt to reach it they finished rock bottom of the CONMEBOL. A far cry from when they topped their group at the World Cup 2010 in South Africa. There is hope though, Paraguay were the losing finalist at the last Copa in 2011 so they do have that to fall back on despite that turbulent World Cup campaign. There is no shame in losing to an excellent Uruguay in a continental tournament but I just feel Paraguay need to do more. They have lifted the Copa America twice in their history first of which came in 1953 with the second coming in 1979 so they are decorated. Now it’s up to coach Ramón Díaz to motivate his side so they can raise the cup. Díaz has chosen a team packed with players who ply their trade in the Americas. With the most familiar faces being veteran striker Roque Santa Cruz, Lucas Barrios, Nelson Valdez and Raúl Bobadilla. My concern is that this quartet is aging and if Paraguay is going to get something from this group their best players are going to have to be on form. Luckily that isn't my job it’s the coach’s duty and he definitely has his work cut out for him.
Key Man- Lucas Barrios went on loan from Spartak Moscow to French side Montpellier where he scored 11 goals from 27 appearances. A good haul, so no doubt Barrios will look to carry forward that good energy into the Paraguayan camp this summer. All in all he is a good player and his country will need his contribution in a big way.
Uruguay
So many emphasis is placed on players and match ups but I think coaches are just as important as any man on the field. Uruguay’s Óscar Tabárez is one of the finest managers walking and he isn’t a bad coach either. All sport aside his numerous tenures with Uruguay has yielded some wonderful results. I won’t rattle them off but I will say he and Uruguay will be defending their Copa America crown and will look to add No.16 to their trophy cabinet back in Montevideo. A feat that will extend their lead on eternal enemies Argentina who are going into the tournament on 14 Copa titles. Tabárez as grand of a master he is will no doubt face a tough task without two men who have served him so well in previous campaigns. Diego Forlán Uruguay’s golden boy has now retired from international football and will not be available for selection. While the country’s most dangerous and most productive player Luis Suárez will not be in Chile either. The Uruguayan front man is not allowed to take part in the Copa due to his nine match ban inflicted by FIFA for his incident at the last World Cup with Italian defender Giorgio Chellini. These two omission has left a huge void in Tabárez’s squad but lucky he has the predatory Edison Cavani at his disposal. Backing up the lanky forward will be staples of Uruguayan national team, men like Fernando Muslera, Diego Godín and all around tough guy Maximiliano Pereira. Which is all well and good but I feel with Luis Suárez Uruguay could had blasted it’s way through to the final and maybe grab that 16th Copa America title. Without him I’m sorry they are third best behind Argentina and Brazil.
Key Man- Edison Cavani needs to become the Edison Cavani of his Napoli days. Ligue 1 and PSG has watered him down. Cavani in Serie A was the Grim Reaper of defenses and he would crucify goalkeepers. Without Luis Suárez it all falls to him.
Predictions- Argentina 1st, Uruguay 2nd, Paraguay 3rd and Jamaica 4th. This will be easy work for Argentina I really don’t have to explain much here. Uruguay minus Luis Suárez is not the same and their chances of winning the tournament has been marred by his absence. Paraguay will be looking to prove a point due to their poor performances internationally but unfortunately this group will not help them exorcise those demons. The two nations divided by the Rio de la Plata Argentina and Uruguay will not be in the mood to let them pass. As for Jamaica as much as I want them to do well I know that they simply won’t.
