Los Ticos

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 E

Jon The Blogcentric2 Comments

I must admit when I look at the team’s rosters, I often forget that most nations have not officially declared their World Cup teams. Every time I look at Wikipedia with the team information, it lists a lot, but very rarely the official cut. So I’m dealing with teams as I type along. In this group, Spain have not officially their team for Qatar 2022 and Germany only declared theirs on Thursday!.

Without further ado, here is my look at Group E of World Cup 2022:

-Spain (7): La Furia Roja are an interesting team. For so long they’ve been known as “football’s greatest underachievers.” Then starting in the late noughts, they had an amazing run winning Euro 2008, World Cup 200 and Euro 2012. Then they went back to their underachieving ways going out in the group stage at World Cup 2014, the Round of 16 at Euro 2016 and the Round of 16 at World Cup 2018. However Spain has shown progress as they made the semifinals of Euro 2020.

The coaching staff of Spain’s team is completely of Spaniards. Head coach Luis Enrique won Olympic gold in 1992, participated in three World Cups and in Euro 1996. Most of Spain’s players play for La Liga with some playing in England and France. Recent results have they’ve had both wins and draws against Portugal and Czechia. They achieved wins against Sweden and Greece, but they’ve also endured a loss to Switzerland. Qatar is the scene for them to try and achieve another World Cup.

-Costa Rica (31): If there’s one thing to learn about Los Ticos, it’s you don’t count them out of World Cup play. They often come with low expectations, but can surprise, like when they made the Round of 16 in 1990 and the quarterfinals in 2014. As they prepare for their sixth World Cup, they again come with low expectations. At the last CONCACAF Gold Cup, they only made the quarterfinals. On top of it, they’ve never had a win against any of their World Cup opponents.

Most of the coaching staff are Costa Rican, but the head coach is a Colombian – Luis Suarez – who has managed five previous Latin American teams. Most of the team including captain Brian Ruiz plays for the Costa Rican league. In recent play, they’ve won against Nigeria, United States and New Zealand. They’ve had recent draws to South Korea and Mexico, and losses to Panama and Canada. Qatar is another chance for Costa Rica to prove to the world how well they can play.

-Germany (11): It almost seemed like a given. If the Mannschaft doesn’t win the World Cup, they would at least be guaranteed to go as far as the quarterfinals. Their past record seemed to sum it up well. That all changed during Russia 2018 when they appeared to be under the alleged “curse of the defending champion.” Their failure in the group stage was their first World Cup opening round ouster since 1938. It was after Euro 2020 and their exit during the Round of 16 that they knew it was time to fix things.

Germany’s coach since Euro 2020 is Hansi Flick. He was assistant coach to the German team from 2006 to 2014 and was head coach of Bayern Munich from 2019 to 2021. Most of the players of the World Cup squad play for Germany’s Bundesliga with four playing for the Premier League and two playing for Spain’s La Liga. Since Euro 2020, they’ve had mixed results including a win and a draw against Italy, two draws against England, a draw against the Netherlands, and a draw and a loss against Hungary. Qatar 2022 is the stage for Germany to redeem itself.

-Japan (24): Since they made their World Cup debut in 1998, Japan has competed in every World Cup since and Qatar will be #7 for them. One thing they will hope to do is go past the Round of 16, which the Samurai Blue have never done. Their most recent feat is making it to the finals of the 2019 AFC Asian Cup.

Since their Round of 16 exit in Russia 2018, they’ve returned to having Japanese coaches. The entire coaching staff is Japanese with Hajime Moriyasu as head coach. Interestingly enough, Moriyasu was part of the last Japanese team that failed to qualify for a World Cup (back in 1994). The team mostly play for European leagues with a few players that play for the J-League. In recent play, they’ve achieved wins against the US, Ghana, Australia and their top Asian rival South Korea. They’ve also had draws against Ecuador and Vietnam, and losses to Tunisia and Brazil. It could be here in Qatar that Japan could pull a surprise.

My Prediction: It’s not easy to make a prediction here as all four teams have known strengths and weaknesses. Nevertheless I predict the qualifiers to be Spain and Germany. I predict Japan to have the best chances to upset.

And there you go! Another review of another World Cup group. This time it’s Group E. Eagerly awaiting the start. Hard to believe it’s coming this soon! Hard to believe it will be this late in the year!