Starting today, Copa America Centenario takes center stage in the football world. While the Euros loom, the first Copa outside of South America is sure to be a spectacle to remember. The USA’s involvement will surely bring more eyes to CONMEBOL and CONCACAF’s centennial tournament, but there is more than just the red, white, and blue to look forward to. Below are the group draws for the competition, then the five games that any football fan would feel foolish missing over the coming weeks.
GROUP A- United States vs Colombia (Friday, June 3rd 9:30 PM ET on Fox Sports 1)
There is no better place to start than with the first game of the tournament. The site of the NFL’s semi-centennial Super Bowl, Levi’s Stadium, will be the jump off point for the Copa America Centenario. It will also be the start of a tough road for the United States Men’s National Team.
Jurgen Klinsmann was met with stiff criticism following his team’s disappointing showing at the Gold Cup. That chatter got even louder when Mexico made sure that the United States wouldn’t be at the Confederations Cup next year. But since those humbling defeats, the US has began a slow remodel of their outfit. The old guard of Michael Bradley, Clint Dempsey, and Tim Howard are still on the squad. But, Klinsmann is starting to inject more and more new blood into the system. Teenage sensation Christian Pulisic could be a super sub. Darlington Nagbe and Bobby Wood should play big parts in their first non-friendly matches. It should be fun to see this new era in US Soccer start to take shape on the Copa America stage, even if it is in the proverbial “Group of Death.”
For Colombia, this game is their chance to propel themselves back into the consciousness of football fans around the world. Quarter-finalists at both the 2014 World Cup and 2015 Copa America, Los Cafeteros have plenty to prove. They have one of the best rounded squads on the planet, but usually fall behind Argentina, Brazil, Uruguay, and Chile in the South American pecking order. James Rodriguez made himself a household name at the World Cup, garnering Golden Boot honors. That got him a very pricey transfer to Real Madrid from Monaco. What better way for him to rebuild his reputation after some sub-par, injury plagued time at the Bernabeu than to open this tournament with a bang against the hosts?
GROUP B- Brazil vs Ecuador (Saturday, June 4th 10:00 PM ET on Fox Sports 1)
Making it into this field of sixteen is a privilege, but that doesn’t mean there aren’t minnows in the field. Group B is probably the weakest of the four groups for the Copa America Centenario. With it primarily being a two team race between Brazil and Ecuador, the opening game for the two against each other becomes all the more important.
Brazil has one of the largest footballing fanbases anywhere in the world. But they have lost a bit of their luster in recent years as Joga Bonito has become a thing of a past for the Seleção. It is still painful to think of the Brazilians limping out of last year’s Copa America in the quarter-finals at the feet of Paraguay. It is even tougher to get the image of Germany putting seven past them in the World Cup semi-finals in their home country. Still, Brazil boasts some of the best players in the world, and always will. Neymar had another fantastic season at Barcelona, but his hopes of solidifying himself as a Brazilian legend will have to wait until the Olympics. Instead, Dunga has brought a more defensive minded side to the States with hopes that Hulk and Jonas, who both did very well for their respective clubs, can replicate that work in the Copa.
While Ecuador may not have the pedigree of their South American counterparts, they may be playing some of the best football in South America at the moment. They are tied for the top spot in 2018 World Cup Qualifying, having lost just once in six games. They beat Argentina already, but don’t play Brazil until the first of September. This game should give them an even bigger confidence boost ahead of that crucial match. Their pace, especially the two Valencias Enner and Antonio, should force Brazil’s fullbacks to stay at home more often than they’d want to. Crosses will be flying in with great regularity as La Tricolor attempt to cross their name off the list of South American nations without a Copa America title to their credit.
GROUP C- Mexico vs Uruguay (Sunday, June 5th 8:00 PM ET on Fox Sports 1)
Mexico vs Jamaica (Thursday, June 9th 10:00 PM ET on Fox Sports 1)
Group A may be the “Group of Death” in many’s eyes, but Group C could easily be the most balanced of the four. Mexico is always a wild card in international competitions. Uruguay is favorites to make it out of the group, but will it be El Tri or the upstart Jamaicans coming with them?
Mexico and Uruguay open the group proceedings on Sunday evening in Arizona. Unlike in last year’s Copa America in Chile, both teams will be fully stocked in this tournament. Luis Suarez makes his return to competitive games for Uruguay after his biting incident against Giorgio Chiellini in the 2014 World Cup saw him banned for nine international matches. Mexico will also have their full compliment of players after having to split squads between the Copa America and Gold Cup last summer. Javier Hernandez just completed arguably his best professional season at Bayer Leverkusen, and will surely have more goals in him going forward. The deciding factor between these two teams will be defense. Uruguay possesses two teammates from Atletico Madrid, Diego Godin and Jose Gimenez, who just came off one of the best defensive years in Spanish history. They won’t let their form slip in this competition.
But what about Jamaica? The Reggae Boyz made waves by eliminating the United States from the Gold Cup last year. They also gave Mexico all they could handle before finally succumbing in the final of that very Gold Cup. While they can’t score with the likes of the other two teams mentioned before, Jamaica is surely capable of hunkering down on defense. Wes Morgan is coming off a season for the ages with Leicester City in the center of defense. He’ll anchor a seasoned defense in front of a player who could be a breakout star in this event, goalkeeper Andre Blake. The former #1 overall pick in the MLS Draft has began to live up to that hype in Philadelphia, and he could easily be the wall that allows Jamaica to send one of these two superpowers from the Americas home early.
GROUP D- Argentina vs Chile (Monday, June 6th 10:00 PM ET on Fox Sports 1)
The first round matchup that everybody is waiting for from the group stage is one we won’t have to wait long for. Argentina and Chile will square off in Santa Clara on Monday night in the closer of the first round of group stage matches.
Argentina has been equal parts snake bitten and underwhelming over the past years internationally. They lost in the 2014 World Cup final to Germany. They were bridesmaids again last year in the Copa America against Chile. Lionel Messi may be able to play this match, but will probably not be 100% after suffering a back injury in a friendly against Honduras. Even if the world’s best isn’t at full throttle, Argentina have an embarrassment of riches in attack. Between Nicolas Gaitan, Gonzalo Higuain, Sergio Aguero, and Angel Di Maria, 93 balls hit the back of the net in all competitions this year. While their defense is a bit shaky, and goalkeeper Sergio Romero mostly rode the pine this year at Manchester United, don’t expect Argentina to ever be out of any game.
If there was a team that could potentially go shot for shot with La Albiceleste, it would be La Roja from Chile. The Chileans held court on their home turf at the 2015 Copa America. That took some of the sting out of a loss on penalties in the Round of 16 against Brazil in the World Cup. The Chileans aren’t the most physically imposing team from a snapshot, but they can grind with the bruisers and run with the speedsters. Alexis Sanchez has spent the last few months shaking off the rust from a couple of nagging injuries in England, but now he’s primed for a Copa repeat. Arturo Vidal and Gary Medel will be skilled enforcers at the top and bottom of the midfield. The defense in front of Barcelona man Claudio Bravo is one that makes up for its lack of height with tactics and positioning. Getting Chile and Argentina in the same group this early just seems unfair, even though it is highly probably that both teams will advance.
Which match are you most looking forward to in the group stages at the Copa America Centenario? Let us know in the comments or on Twitter @TREVORutley or @sportsftb. As always, be sure to follow along with these five games, as well as every other game in this summer’s Copa, on GameView. This should be a tournament worth the hundred year wait!