The Copa America is a tournament in which each national team, especially the weaker ones, must be attentive to what happens in the other two groups during group stage, because two of the best third place teams advance to the knockout rounds.
Teams like Brazil, Colombia, Argentina, Uruguay, Chile and Paraguay seem to have everything at their disposal to advance to the quarterfinals without complications. So, taking for granted that Bolivia, Jamaica and Peru will be at the bottom of their respective quartets, then the hard work is for squads such as Ecuador, Venezuela and Mexico as only two of them will make it out of group stage.
In Group B, Paraguay might as well be registered in the quarterfinals. If, as expected, it defeats Jamaica, which will would be a first in Copa America, it will place high pressure on members of A and C.
Ramon Diaz is Paraguay's Head coach. Photo: Facebook
In group A, the Bolivians come with few aspirations, but could entangle the quartet since Mexico will depend on supposed B team. The A team will attend to Copa de Oro.
The Mexican National Team has been training in Santiago. Photo: Twitter
Meanwhile, Ecuador has absences of great importance because of injuries, such as forward Jaime Ayovi (Godoy Cruz / Argentina), Antonio Valencia (Manchester United / England), Felipe Caicedo (Espanyol / Spain) and Angel Mena (Emelec).
So three teams in Group A will be looking for a secure berth, and one will have to wait for what happens in other stadiums in Chile.
In group C, Venezuela, known as La Vinotinto, a country that saw its best performance four years ago in Argentina where they finished fourth, will have to beat Peru in order to book a place in the quarterfinals without many worries, or else they will depend on other results.
Venezuela achieved its best ever soccer performance at Argentina 2011. Photo: @CopaDeportes | Twitter
Both Venezuela and Peru are in periods of change, especially because their new coaches have had little time in office. Noel Sanvicente has had about one year and a half as Venezuela’s head coach, while Ricardo "El Tigre" Gareca got the job three months ago for Peru.
Given this reality, it is easy to think that the Copa America will only really be interesting during marquee games: Argentina-Uruguay, Brazil - Colombia and Chile – Ecuador playing in Opening Day. But, at other times there will be a lot of excitement, because in addition to the 22 men in play during any given match, many more players and staff members will be watching to see how a result affects their team. It may be that a certain result will dictate whether or not a team stays in Chile or returns home just after three matches.
12/6: Mexico Bolivia
15/6: Ecuador-Bolivia
16/6: Paraguay-Jamaica
18/6: Peru-Venezuela
19/6: Mexico-Ecuador
