Copa America 2015

If this Copa America 2015 preview seems rushed to you I apologize...because it is. In fact when it
comes to a preview of the last group at a major competition I usually just want to get it out of the way. I did it last World Cup in Brazil with Group H. At the 2010 World Cup in South Africa Group H felt the brunt of my laziness and rashness editorial flaws as well. So what now of this Group C of the Copa America? Normally I would have some complicated retort to my own ridiculous question but I’m so fatigued I just want to get the each country’s preview and be done with it. It’s a bad attitude to have but I like to keep it honest with you guys something a lot of columnist won’t do. Of course I will keep what integrity I have when it comes to the actual content but just like an athlete wear and tear does effect performances and your boy is feeling it. On top of that the fact that I have to preview Peru and Venezuela is not something that get my juices flowing. I can only talk about Jefferson Farfan and Claudio Pizzaro for so long without losing a part of my soul. I will do my research as usual but I’m not going to like it. Again a sucky attitude to have especially if you are me, a person who swears they want to do this as a profession for the rest of their life. It's potentially a bad PR move on my part by being so lax but let’s hope that future employers of mine in the sports media world don’t come across this particular article. If they do hopefully they don’t read this intro and are amused by the pretty bright colors of the website. All I have to say is thank goodness Brazil and Colombia are up first in this preview.



Group C
Brazil
Colombia
Peru
Venezuela

Brazil

This is a big tournament for Brazil. We all know they hosted the last FIFA World Cup and we all know how they preformed even the novices. A 7-1 semi final exit to the eventual tournament winners Germany was embarrassing and unacceptable on every level and that display will forever tarnish the Seleção. Dunga the coach of Brazil will be looking for absolute redemption and is expected to come good at this regional competition. This is a serious matter and a business like tone should accompany the Brazilians all throughout this championship. They should come out ready to treat Peru and Venezuela like step children and punch Colombia square in the mouth to assert it’s position as alpha male straight away. Brazil need to get over what malaise they are under and be ruthless if not she will not capture that 9th Copa America crown. I’m not Brazilian and even I feel an overwhelming sense of retribution casted over this Brazilian squad. Every notable voice on the Brazilian football scene feels the same way. It’s like an unfinished project that needs to know completion. I’ve heard former players like Taffarel, Rivellino and Bebeto speak of the need to restore Brazil’s honor. That crushing exit in the World Cup has left Brazil scarred and frankly bruised her ego and now the whole vibe about them seems just vengeful. One of my favorite books of all time is “The Count of Monte Cristo,” by Alexandre Dumas. The main character was a dude called Edmond Dantes a lucky go happy man who wanted nothing out of life but had everything taken away from him through wrongful persecution to one day return to the peak of his powers. I see a lot of comparisons between Brazil right now and Mr. Dantes. There is sense of theft and Brazil will look to right it. Dunga has called on players like Philippe Coutinho and Neymar to perform sorcery and return Brazil the head turners they once were. If those two can brew up some magical moments I know for sure only Messi and cohorts can debunk their road to glory.

Key Man- Neymar has gone from a showman to the shaman Brazil needs to cure them of their ills. I doubted Neymar’s maturity at some point but he has grown into a pretty decent leader and figurehead. The guy is talent probably the second best talent at the competition behind Lionel Messi but one thing is for sure he won’t want to be finishing second.

Colombia

  












Forget Radamel Falcao and James Rodriguez they both can take a backseat to my main man Carlos Bacca. This guy has absolutely starred for Sevilla this past season. His 20 goals in La Liga helped his club to a 5th place finish. One point off a Champions League birth but that didn’t even matter because his seven goals in the Europa League allowed his side to win the tournament thus cemented their place in Champions League for next season. So I’ve got him pegged to have an excellent tournament and I think coach José Pékerman would be a crazy man not to start him despite having the likes of Victor Ibarbo, Teo Gutiérrez, Jackson Martinez and the already mentioned Falcao to chose from. The truth is Colombia is incredibly top heavy, all of those names I just mentioned plus Juan Cuadrado and James Rodriguez makes “Los Cafeteros,” saturated with buzzing goal scorers. The defense and midfield are nothing to get excited about. Cristian Zapata and James holding rank in both departments while between the sticks David Ospina should be solid for them. Pékerman is a great coach, him and Óscar Tábarez of Uruguay are real mentalists and the prior will look to deliver his side a second Copa America title. A task that I don’t think he can do. I just look at Colombia’s defense and I get critical. Sure the Colombia can gun down the opposition with their goal scoring ability but if they want to play the “Goal Blitz Game,” I know three sides that play that game even better...Brazil, Argentina and Uruguay and they don’t lose at it! If Colombia is going to win this competition Pékerman will have to find the right mix of defense and attacking flair but that’s pretty cliche and every coach will be looking to find that combo. What he really needs to do is get men like Bacca and James to play like extraterrestrials only then could they take home the silverware. 

Key Man- I would say Carlos Bacca should be the key man here but I don’t even know if José Pékerman will actually play from the start. So my nod will go to James Rodriguez a legitimate star. I think the world has figured out the young Colombian’s game by now. It isn’t like the last World Cup where he was relatively unknown to those outside the major leagues of Europe. I love his game, a hybrid midfield man with pace. He should do well this summer.

Peru

What is alarming about coach Ricardo Gareca’s squad is the lack of defenders...I only count six! I know I said I was tired and was feeling sluggish but I don’t know if it’s injuries or if Gareca think he can get away with just six ball stoppers or if this is a typo. Surely there must be a problem or maybe he feels that the Andean country is depleted of defenders but anyway we carry forth and I won’t dwell on it any further. Gareca will have a task ahead of him because Peru has not been percolating now for a very long time now. In fact their last World Cup appearance was in 1982 six years before I was born. What I won’t do is paint Peru with all doom and gloom and one point that Peruvians can rally around is the fact they did win the Copa America twice. These wonder marks in this nation’s history came way back in 1939 and more recently in 1975. So they have some pedigree at the tournament and not to mention they finished 3rd in the 2011 Copa but I don’t think they will have what it takes to even bother the opposition this time around. One problem I have highlighted for Gareca is the fact that Peru's stars are aging. Striker Claudio Pizarro is currently 36, Juan Manuel Vargas a talented left sided player is 31 so is forward Paolo Guerrero and Jefferson Farfan their best player is 30. Going into a tournament like this one’s age is not a problem because in reality the most games you can play is like seven but having players long in the tooth doesn’t help your chances to do well either. I predict a quick and swift lesson for Peru and Gareca.

Key Man- Jefferson Farfan is the liveliest of the aging lions and still plays with tremendous energy and the Peruvians will need his quick tempo to rouse them against Brazil and Colombia and to get pass Venezuela.

Venezuela

   












Here is a side that I have huge respect for. Venezuela and Bolivia have been seen for a very long time as a running bad joke. Bolivia are still the brunt of a bad joke but Venezuela has really raised their game. They haven’t turned into Portugal overnight but they certainly aren’t as meek as before. “Los Vinotinto,” will look to build on their best ever Copa America finish of 4th in 2011. Where they loss on penalties to losing finalist Paraguay. Then went on to lose to ironically Peru in 3rd place game. New man at the helm of the national team is Noel Sanvincente and he will need to keep the good vibes high for the men from Caracas. It will be hard because Brazil and Colombia are not meant for the moving and Peru do fancy themselves against the Venezuelans. What Sanvincente has to work with is good but not great. Veteran Juan Arango is a serious threat over a dead ball but at age 35 one has to wonder if he can really be heavily relied on? Fernando Amorbieta and Oswaldo Vizcarrondo are both rough and tumble defenders but they are not the most mobile. While midfield man Tomás Rincón is like a Duracell battery but a puller of strings he is not so don’t look for him to be very influential. Venezuela's super hero comes in the form of now Zenit St. Petersburg striker Salomón Rondón. He has impressive stats over there in Russia. In the 36 appearances to date he has 20 goals. I’m not good at goal per game averages but to me that seems like pretty a tidy ratio. To add more to his fame, while playing for his homeland he has netted 12 goals in 38 appearances so far which isn’t bad. If Venezuela are even thinking of getting a point he will have a lot to with it.

Key Man- I will go for Oswaldo Vizcarrondo. Not only do I think his surname is kind of cool but given who the Venezuelans are playing in Group C they will need an Atlas like figure at the back to hold things together. Vizcarrondo and his equally sturdy partner Fernando Amorbieta will need to play perfect games.

Predictions- Brazil 1st, Colombia 2nd, Venezuela 3rd, Peru 4th. Brazil has a point to prove. Colombia has more fire power than the old Soviet Union. Venezuela are willing but are four players too short to make a real impact. While Peru will look to give their fading stars their last hooray.