Copa America Surprises And The Maturing Of Women's Soccer

I've been catching some Copa America games as I collect all physical and mental energies to put me through my week at my daycare.

While the games (it's winter in Argentina) have been rather pedestrian, they haven't come without upsets. On Saturday, hosts Argentina lost on penalties to Uruguay after playing to a 1-1 draw through 120 minutes. Today, after a scoreless match, Paraguay defeated defending champions Brazil also concluded on penalties. Not to be outdone, tenacious Venezuela reached its first semi-finals after knocking off skillful but immature Chile 2-1 in a match that saw some dubious refereeing.

Oh, and Peru beat Colombia 2-0.
What made the result stunning in the Brazil-Paraguay game, was not that Paraguay won (for anyone who follows the game knows Paraguay currrntly presents a competitive side in international football. One in which that knows how to neutralize Brazil), but how Brazil lost. Not one of the four penalty takers for Brazil managed to score. An astonishing thing to witness terrible pitch conditions notwithstanding.

The results for me weren't that surprising. Both Uruguay and Paraguay continue to ride the momentum built on their impressive World Cup campaigns. For the part, Argentina and Brazil are experiencing some technical difficulties.

Clearly, Brazil has a lot of work to do if it fancies itself a favorite to win the World Cup before its people in 2014. I've been reading for years about the steadfast decline of Brazilian soccer. Their performance at the Copa isn't going to help. I don't think they played all that badly, but relative to its magnificent history, perhaps it's a grey age for Brazilian soccer.

As for Argentina, classic case of a team filed with great individual talent incapable of forming a united team. Simple as that. Argentinians play for the top clubs in the world, but haven't won a major tournament in 18 years.

I wouldn't overplay that though. Brazil waited 24 years to win its fourth World Cup and major  in 2002 and 19 years to earn a Copa title. Same with Italy - 24 years between World Cup titles. Germany hasn't won the World Cup since 1990 and last won a European title in 1996.

Soccer is wickedly competitive.

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Nor would I go too hard on Lionel Messi either - yet. People wonder how can he be so dominant with Barcelona but not Argentina? Again, the answer is not that complicated. There's a huge discrepancy in the number of games he plays for Barcelona and Argentina respectively.

The engine that runs the tactics and flow of that team is second nature to him and his teammates. It's only normal when you spend that much time together since your days with a youth academy.

It's entirely different when you're asked to duplicate that success with players you haven't had a chance to gel with. It's always the case when you go from club to national play. Huge difference playing 50-55 games over a nine or 10 months span with the same formation and three or four with another in a short two-week tournament with unfamiliar players; so many factors also come into play that can impact performance like a coach's decision to shift tactics.

It doesn't make him a choker or diminish his accomplishments at Barca.

This pretty much goes for all athlete representing their countries. Unless they're a professionalized outfit like the old Central Red Army Soviet hockey team that crushed all amateur opponents between 1960 and 1990, this is how it goes.

It may be Messi is too good for everyone around him, but then again, great players lift their team mates to higher grounds.

The jury, my jury, is still out on him when it comes to international play.

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I was thinking. At least I think I was, but how unrealistic would it be to merge the North American and South American federations of Concacaf and Conmebol?

Think of it, it would expand the field of teams and would pretty much demand a qualifying phase much like UEFA does for Europe. It would permanently add the United States and Mexico to the list of nations and possibly include Canada and others. It would do wonders for North American soccer playing South American sides. It would be an all encompassing Copa America.

The exposure would increase as well. Right now, no major sports outlet is showing any of the games let alone trying to get scores. The Score has thankfully stepped out to carry some of the games, but as a whole, Copa America is nowhere near the class in terms of generating interest as the Euro.

I think expanding the format to include North America would help.

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Quick word on the Women's Fifa World Cup. The USA, the most dominant team ever, finally met a team that could match its fire and determination. Japan twice came back to tie the USA 2-2 (3-1 on penalties) before becoming the first Asian team to win the title.

Women's soccer continues its maturation process.

Women's hockey has yet to go beyond the Canada-USA empire (with Finland and Sweden slowly catching up), while soccer has already had four different champions and multiple finalists and semi-finalists since 1991.