Big names struggle at start of Copa America

In the World Cup final of 2010, Spain proved that a poor start is no indicator of a bad tournament. The Spanish bounced back from an opening game defeat against Switzerland to walk away with the top trophy in international football and this may help some football fans put defeats in perspective. This is certainly what football fans in South America will be looking for as both hosts Argentina and then Brazil struggled in their opening game at this years Copa America event.

The Copa America is seen as a carnival of football

The Copa America is one of the biggest tournaments in the footballing calendar and the fact that both nations struggled badly will have only piqued the interest in this summer’s event. Both have been struggling new formations and style of play so there is every likelihood that they will improve as the tournament progresses but improvement is needed quickly.

Argentina have been looking to play more like Baracelona, no doubt influenced by the great style of play and of course the role that Lionel Messi performs. However, Messi is by no means a one man team and it is the pressing and then patient passing from his team-mates that give Messi the platform to unlock tight defences.

A late goal saves Argentine blushes

Argentina were severely lacking in patience in the match against Bolivia, which ended in a 1-1 draw. A late Sergio Aguero volley grabbed a point for the host nation but there was a stifled sense of play about the Argentineans. Nerves are always likely to be present for a host nation starting off in a tournament but this was an undoubtedly poor performance and Bolivia will be probably be unhappy at not grabbing all three points with a shock win.

Brazil certainly started well against Venezuela but very quickly seemed to run out of ideas. Long before the full time whistle, most people had accepted that this game was going to end in a drab goal-less affair. As the match progressed, the fear of losing, something that Brazilian teams of the past would never have been worried about, became the more pressing emotion. It is easy to see why this is the case, even allowing for Spain’s turnaround in 2010, a loss in the opening game can make it very difficult for a team to turn things around. Much more will be expected from these teams in their next match.

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