Well Ladies and Gentlemen, the next major international tournament is upon us, the Copa America.
I find the most interesting part of this tournament tends to come from the invitees from other conferences, and this one is no exception.
The teams involved this year are, ranked in CONMEBOL ranking order:
- Argentina (4) - Hosts
- Brazil (5) - Defending Champions 2 Tournaments in a row
- Uruguay (7)
- Chile (14)
- Paraguay (24)
- Ecuador (49)
- Columbia (50)
- Peru (59)
- Venezuela (63)
- Bolivia (97)
The brackets indicate their world ranking.
The invited teams are:
- Mexico
- Japan
Today Japan has withdrawn due to national turmoil in the wake of the Tsunami/Earthquake.
Quote:
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Japan have pulled out of this summer's Copa America tournament, as the country continues to deal with the fallout from the devastating March 11 earthquake and subsequent tsunami.
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Proposed to step in:
- Canada
- Costa Rica
- Spain
Quote:
Costa Rica and Canada have been rumoured to be interested, while World Cup winners Spain have revealed they have received an invitation.
President of the Spanish football federation (RFEF) Angel Maria Villar told the press: "Spain has received a proposal to participate in the Copa America. We have been asked many times and it's something that Spanish football owes to South America for the great players who have come to play here.
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http://soccernet.espn.go.com/news/st...nvited?cc=5901
So, whos your team? I'll be following Brazil mostly due to having family down there, as well as Paraguay as I'll be following Suarez.
As has been the case the last few tournaments Argentina enter as the favourites, but one can hardly say that Brazil are ever really underdogs.
Although if Spain enter this and win I will be supremely pissed off.