COPA AMERICA '21 : Five(5) Teams and their Star players to watch out for.

in World Of Football ⚽4 years ago

Hello fellow lovers of football.!

This is my first post as a member of the World Of Football Community.
Thanks again to @njaywan and @worldoffootball for creating this community and validating my membership.

Well, it is no surprise that everyone is talking about the European Championship that starts on Friday 11th June, but there seems to be little hype on the 2021 Copa America Tournament that starts on Sunday.


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Yep! It starts this coming Sunday 13th June with an enthralling game between Brazil and Venezuela and is scheduled to run till Saturday,10 July 2021.

This tournament (it's 47th edition) is being hosted by Brazil who having won the title nine(9) times are also the current title holders.

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It was originally meant to be joint hosted by Argentina and Columbia, but because of protests in Columbia and a surge in covid-19 cases in Argentina, CONMEBOL decided to change the venue of the tournament.

All the CONMEBOL national teams (10 in number) will participate in the competition and they are divided into two geographical zones for the group stage:
The CONMEBOL North Zone and the CONMEBOL South Zone.

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N/B:
[CONMEBOL means in Spanish: Confederación Sudamericana de Fútbol; in English: The South American Football Confederation]

Here is the grouping table:

CONMEBOL North ZoneCONMEBOL South Zone
Brazil (Hosts and current title holders)Argentina
ColombiaBolivia
EcuadorChile
PeruParaguay
VenezuelaUruguay

Top 5 Teams to watch out for, with their star players:

NUMBER FIVE(5)-- CHILE:

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After having not started off well in World Cup qualifying by losing two (vs Venezuela and Uruguay), drawing two (vs Columbia and Argentina) and winning one (vs Chile), it would not be wise at all to vouch on Chile winning this tournament.

However they have a number of stars like Arturo Vidal, Alexis Sanchez and Claudio Bravo that can do their part to take them far in the competition.

STAR PLAYER TO WATCH OUT FOR: ALEXIS SANCHEZ

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After bagging a goal in the last match with Argentina and having a quiet season in Serie A with Inter Milan, I expect him to come firing on all cylinders in this tournament in order to prove a point.

NUMBER FOUR(4)-- COLUMBIA:

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Columbia have also had a disappointing world cup qualification so far, losing by 5 goals to Ecuador and by 3 goals to Uruguay, drawing with Chile and wining Peru and Columbia.

They have also been dealt a big blow with the absence of star player James Rodriguez who has been ruled out with injury.

However this competition is a new focus and I believe they can switch up form to go very far in the tournament especially when having such talented players like Duvan Zapata, Luis Muriel, Juan Cuadrado, Yerry Mina, Davinson Sanchez, David Ospina.

STAR PLAYER TO WATCH OUT FOR: LUIS MURIEL

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After having a truly fantastic season with Atalanta, playing a pivotal role by scoring 22 goals and providing 9 assists, it's no surprise that he is a threat to opposing teams and should expect to be given special treatment by defenders.

Together with his partner Duvan Zapata, expect a lot of goals.

NUMBER THREE(3)---URUGUAY

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As the country with the most amount of Copa America Trophies (15), it is little surprise that Uruguay should be considered favorites.

They however have not had an impressive outing so far in their world cup qualification bid, having won 2, drawn 1 and lost 2 matches so far. With such form, I won't pit them as top two favorites for the trophy.

However they still remain a dark horse especially having talented players such as Luis Suarez and Diego Godin.

STAR PLAYER TO WATCH OUT FOR: LUIS SUAREZ

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This is the obvious choice. Having an efficient striker like Suarez in your team automatically increases the odds of going very far in any tournament.

He had an amazing first season with Atletico Madrid, guiding them to the La Liga trophy in his first season and I don't see him slacking in this tournament.

Expect him to compete for top goal scorer too.

NUMBER TWO(3)---ARGENTINA

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Though the country with the 2nd highest amount of Copa America trophies(14), the last time they won was far back in 1993. This should be enough incentive for Argentina push for the trophy.

They have had a decent outing in their world cup qualification bid, winning three games, drawing two and losing none so far, so the form of the team is pretty good going into the tournament.

The presence of a lot of talented players in this team also increases the odds of them having a great chance to lift the trophy.
Watching out for Lionel Messi, Sergio Aguero, Lautaro Martinez, Angel Di Maria, Lucas Ocampos, Joaquin Correa and a lot more.

STAR PLAYER TO WATCH OUT FOR: LIONEL MESSI

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Arguably the greatest player to grace the game, a constant issue hammered on by his critics has been the inability to win a trophy for his country.

Its pointless to write on how Messi has been breaking and setting new records on almost an inhuman level..so its almost normal to expect a great performance from him and this tournament should not be an exception.

Also this might well be his last Copa America tournament so extra motivation should be on the cards for the little magician.

Expect a great performance from the soccer maestro.

NUMBER ONE(1)---BRAZIL

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Its totally okay to say that with a perfect record of five wins out of five that Brazil is coasting easily through the world cup qualifying matches.

The form of this team is at sky high level and we should expect it to continue at this tournament.
The added advantage of hosting it on home soil also lends weight to the fact that they should be top favourites to add a tenth Copa America trophy to their trophy cabinet.

With great talent on display from players like Neymar, Gabriel Jesus, Roberto Firmino, Casemiro, Fabinho, Alisson, we can expect them to go all the way and secure the trophy.

STAR PLAYER TO WATCH OUT FOR: NEYMAR

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Neymar is one of the biggest names in football, and rightly so.

He is a talented player who brings a lot to the table in terms of flair, passing, playmaking and scoring.

But after having a not too praiseworthy season at PSG in terms of goals and assists, it's expected that he comes out firing in this completion in order to silence critics and also stake his claim for the Ballon d'Or which is coming up soon.

So who do you think will get to lift the 2021 Copa America Trophy?
And what stars should we watch out for?

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Would love to hear from you all.

Thanks.

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Fair analysis bro.. I too expect Brazil to go all the way.. Luis Muriel, fine player.

Overall well written.

Thank you for the compliment bro. Really appreciate

While i expect Brazil to go all the way, I really hope that Argentina wins as it has been truly surprising that with such players like Messi, the last time they lifted the cup was in 1993.

You are so right about Luis Muriel who is making steady progress becoming a top attacker. Should he keep up the consistency, he will be well sought in top clubs in Europe.