The 44th edition of the Copa America the inter-continental cup kicked off on June 3rd. 16 top teams of North and South America are competing to win the trophy which is celebrating its 100 year of foundation. There can surely be no better time to win the trophy and be part of the centenary celebration.
The tournament is being played in the US and as the tournament has entered into the second week we are getting a good idea as to which teams are in contention to make it to the next round of the tournament and who are more likely to be winners.
A round up of the matches played so far.
Group A
The group features the hosts USA, along with world cup quarter finalists Columbia along with two time Copa America winners Paraguay and Costa Rica.
Based on current form Columbia have been top of the group with 6 points and have qualified for the quarter finals. USA won against Costa Rica in a must win match to keep their hopes of qualification alive.
The remaining two teams are tied at 1 point a piece and all these three still have a shot at qualifying for quarters depending on how the results of next round of matches. A win for USA will take them through no matter what happens in other matches. Costa Rica and Paraguay will be hoping for USA to lose so they can win and go through.
Group B
The Group B features the mighty Brazil along with Peru, Ecuador and minnows Haiti. After the first round matches the group was equally poised but Wednesday night matches have thrown a more clear picture.
Brazil’s decimation of Haiti 7-1 courtesy a hat trick by Philippe Coutinho to move top of the group at 4 times after drawing their opening matching with Ecuador. Peru who were the group leaders after the first week took a 2-0 lead in the opening half only for Ecuador to fight back and draw the match. The draw has given Ecuador a great opportunity to go through as they will have to face Haiti in the last match, a win will take them to 5 points and given that if Peru or Brazil were to lose they will go through at one of theirs expense. The qualification in this group is sure to go to the wire with the possibility that the goal difference may have the final say.
Group C
This group has Uruguay, Mexico, Venezuela and Jamaica. There have only been first round matches with the second round of matches scheduled for today, its only then there will be a more clear picture as to who is likely to advance.
As things stand Mexico and Uruguay have one win each and are on top of the group with three points each, Uruguay and Jamaica both have lost their first round matches and are zero points.
Tonight they both will try and get their act together to have a shot at progressing through the next round.
Group D
Group D has the defending champions Chile and the runners up Argentina along with Panama and Bolivia. They too have only had one match yet.
However the first round match between Argentina and Chile a replay of the finals last year was by far the most sought after encounter of the tournament which Argentina won 2-1, to salvage some glory. Panama defeated Bolivia to have their 3 points and are level with Argentina.
The next round of matches are scheduled for Friday and with the possibility of return of one of the greatest player Lionel Messi for Argentina there is a lot of buzz about it.
Also there are question marks being put on Chile’s ability to defend their title, so they too will look forward to turn the tide in their favor and silence the critics.
The tournament does have promising fixtures to look forward too. The next week promises to be a good week for football fans world over not only is there the Copa America but also the Euro 2016 will kick off on Friday in France. It promises to be a great footballing summer before the return of club football.