Canarinha

2024 Copa America: Group D Focus

Jon The BlogcentricLeave a comment

Interesting as the Euro is almost halfway finished into their group play, the Copa America starts playing. Sometimes it does seem unusual for the US to host it. Personally I want to see it being a predominantly CONMEBOL event. I don’t mind the idea of guest teams coming, but I do hope to see a South American team win in the true spirit of the event.

Group D is only one of two groups that has only one CONCACAF team and the rest CONMEBOL. Also interesting is all but one team has an Argentinean coach! The only team in this group without an Argentinean coach Is Brazil, of course. So here’s a look at the last Copa America group: Group D:

-Brazil (5): Right now seems to be one of the toughest times for the Seleção Canarinha. Ever since their fifth and last World Cup, they haven’t finished in the Top 3 since, going out in the quarterfinals most of the time. Even now with 1/3 of World Cup qualification games played, Brazil is in sixth and the last qualifying spot currently. At the Copa America, however, it has not been a complete downer for Brazil as they won in 2019 and were runner-up in 2021.

Since the beginning of this year, Brazil has been managed by Dorival Junior. Top players include defender Marquinhos, midfielder Lucas Paqueta, forward Vinicius Junior and goalkeeper Alisson. Since Qatar 2022, Brazil has had wins to England, Peru, Bolivia and Mexico. It’s had draws to Spain and Venezuela, and losses to Uruguay, Argentina, Colombia and Senegal. The stage is set here in the USA. Brazil can pave another path for them here at the Copa and aim to get their greatness back.

-Colombia (12): It’s been an up-and-down ride for Los Cafeteros. The 2010’s seemed to be their breakthrough with their first time ever in the World Cup quarterfinals. Over time their magic wore off as they made it to the Round of 16 in 2018 and failed to qualify for 2022. One bright light is they did finish third at the last Copa America. The current team is hoping to bring their past prowess back.

Since September 2022, the Colombian team has been managed by Argentinean Nestor Lorenzo. Top players include defenders Davinson Sanchez and Santiago Arias, midfielder James Rodriguez, forward Luis Diaz and goalkeeper David Ospina. Interestingly since the start of 2023, Colombia has not had a single loss! Wins in that time include Spain, Mexico, Brazil and Germany. They’ve had a win and a draw against the United States and draws against Uruguay, Ecuador and Chile. If their prowess is still with them, Colombia could find themselves the new Copa winners. It will all be decided right here.

-Paraguay (56): It does seem like the biggest days of Los Guaraníes or La Albirroja are a thing of the past. Their streak of four straight World Cups ended in 2010. They won the Copa in 1953 and 1979 and their last Top 3 finish was runner-up in 2011, but they’ve faded in to making it only as far as the quarterfinals. The next generation of players look to change that.

Paraguay’s team has been managed by Argentinean Daniel Garnero for a year. Top players include defenders Gustavo Gomez and Junior Alonso, midfielder Miguel Almiron, and forward Derlis Gonzalez and Angel Romero. Since the start of 2023, they’ve had wins to Bolivia, Panama and Nicaragua. They’ve had a draw and a loss to both Peru and Chile, and losses to Argentina, Colombia and Venezuela. Despite that, anything can happen in football and a team with low expectations like Paraguay could deliver a strong performance to send a message to the Americas.

-Costa Rica (52): One way to describe Los Ticos is unpredictable. No doubt they’re arguably the best Central American team. They’ve been to six World Cups including the last three and made it as far as the quarterfinals, they’ve been to five previous Copas and no other Central American nation has won three CONCACAF championships or Gold Cups.

The current Costa Rica team has been managed by Argentinean Gustavo Alfaro for over a year. Top players include defender Francisco Calvo, midfielder Ariel Lassiter, and forward Joel Campbell. Since World Cup 2022, they’ve had wins to Martinique, Honduras and Saudi Arabia. They’ve had a win and a draw to El Salvador along with losses to Argentina, Panama, Mexico and Ecuador. The arena here in the US gives Costa Rica another opportunity to prove itself and possibly surprise the world again.

My Predictions: Sometimes I feel this group is the Group Of Death because of three teams that are known for great play and delivering shockers. I will have to go with Brazil and Colombia as the qualifiers.

And there you have it. That’s my review for Group D of Copa America 2024. Now all that’s remaining is for the Copa to start! Lots of excitement ahead.

World Cup 2022 Preview: Group G

Jon The Blogcentric2 Comments

Before I get into my preview of Group G of the FIFA World Cup, I just want to inform of something. There has been a lot of talk over the issue of human rights in Qatar. This is especially in concern of foreign visitors coming to Qatar with tickets. FIFA has not ignored this. In fact FIFA makes public on its website that it has developed a Human Rights Grievance Mechanism. If a visitor notices a concern, the information of what to do is on this link: https://www.fifa.com/social-impact/human-rights/grievance-mechanism

And now, my review of Group G of the 2022 FIFA World Cup:

-Brazil (1): It’s easy to believe that Brazil is the best. No other team has played in all 21 previous World Cups. No other nation has won the World Cup five times. They’ve also won the Copa America an impressive nine times. Despite all their victories, it can be a mistake. Ever since their last World Cup win back in 2002, they’ve gone out sooner than expected thanks to bad mistakes on plays, blown chances and sometimes a lack of top talent or team unity. Their best World Cup finish since has been fourth in 2014 as host nation, and it was quite humiliating.

Since the 2018 World Cup where they were out in the quarterfinals.,the Seleção have showed improvements. They won the 2019 Copa America and were runners-up to Argentina last year. The national squad is coached by Tite, manager since 2016. Neymar is back, as well as Dani Alves, Thiago Silva, Casemiro and goalkeeper Allisson. Since Copa America 2021, they have not lost a game since. Wins include Ghana, Tunisia, Japan and Uruguay. They’ve had a win and a draw against Colombia, and they’ve drawn against Argentina and Ecuador. The whole world is looking forward to how Brazil will performi in Qatar 2022. No doubt they will be ready.

-Serbia (21): Serbia is a team that’s full of surprises. Ever since they’ve been competing and playing on their own, they’ve never qualified for a Euro, but they’ve qualified for their third World Cup out of four tries! Even now, they rank 19th in the UEFA Nations League. As for World Cup play, The Eagles are hoping to relive the glory days when the Yugoslavian team would go far in world football.

The current squad is coached by Dragan Stojkovic who played for the last two Yugoslavia teams that played in the World Cup: 1990 and 1998. The team’s players play in clubs in various European leagues with the most common being Italy’s Serie A. Team captain Dusan Tadic plays for Ajax Amsterdam. In recent play, they’ve had wins over Sweden, Hungary and Portugal. They’ve had a win and a draw against Slovenia. They’ve also had a win and a loss to Norway and endured an additional loss to Denmark. Qatar is the stage for Serbia to show the world what they’re made of.

-Switzerland (15): Switzerland is a team that should be admired for its consistency. This will be their twelfth World Cup and fifth consecutive. But the problem is the Nati always have a problem with getting ahead. They’ve never progressed passed the second stage and they’ve never won a knockout game. That would include Round-of-16 exits in the last two World Cups. Recently they achieved a breakthrough at Euro 2020 when they won their first-ever knockout match, albeit on penalty kicks. Right now in UEFA Nations League play, they rank 9th in the A-league.

Since Euro 2020, the Swiss team is coached by Murat Yakin who played for Switzerland in Euro 2004. Most of the team plays for teams in the European leagues with the Premier League and the Bundesliga being the most common. Captain Granit Xhaka plays for Arsenal. Interestingly enough, vice-captain Xherdan Shaqiri plays for the Chicago Fire in the MLS. Four of Switzerland’s players at the World Cup rank among Switzerland’s Top 10 most capped. Recent play has been a mixed bag. They’ve had a recent win against Bulgaria. draws against Italy and Kosovo, and a recent loss to England. In Nations Cup play, they’ve had a win and a loss against Portugal, Spain and Czechia. The stage is set in Qatar and a chance for the Swiss team to prove themselves.

-Cameroon (43): Cameroon used to be seen as the leaders in African football. It seems like the glory days of the Indomitable Lions were so long ago. Their quarterfinal finish was back in 1990. They failed to qualify for 2018, and they lost all three matches in the two previous World Cups. Lately things have been making improvements for Cameroon. They finished third at the most recent African Cup of Nations. They also finished fourth in the 2020 African Nations Championship.

Cameroon is coached by Rigoberto Song who played for Cameroon in four World Cups. Song was named Cameroon’s head coach in February of this year replacing Toni Conceicao of Portugal. The players mostly play for leagues in European or Arabian nations. Captain Vincent Aboubakar plays for Al-Nassr in the Saudi Pro League. Recent play has them with wins against Burundi, Ethiopia and the Ivory Coast. They’ve had draws against Jamaica and Egypt. They’ve had a win and a draw against Burkina Faso and a win and a loss against Algeria. 2022 is a chance for Cameroon to regain their old glory and pave the way for a new generation.

My Prediction: Here we go. Now it’s time to make the prediction of the two most likely to advance. For this group, I will have to go with Brazil and Serbia. I pick Switzerland as the team most likely to surprise.

And there you go. My review of World Cup Group G. Hard to believe there’s only one group left to do! The excitement doesn’t end, does it?