The 46th edition of the South American international men's association football championship, organized by ruling body CONMEBOL and equivalent to the UEFA European Championship or EURO, is being played this year in Brazil and as always there is a great chance for a
bookmaker to tests his or her wisdon.
Unlike other opportunities in the past, this time the fans have not shown much so far. None of the games have witnessed a sell-out crowd and just two of them recorded an attendance above 40 percent of the stadium's capacity. The average ticket cost around 55 dollars, too much for this part of the world standard income, although Brazilian citizens can get them at half-price.
Te so called "major-powers", namely Brazil and Argentina, are getting very upsetting results after first matches.
With the first six matches played, there have been the usual controversies that we found in the continental tournament. This year, some of such controversies involved first time implemented Video Assistant Referee or VAR where
the supposed offences would have gone unnoticed if it had not been for this new technology.
Host Brazil have three goals disallowed in their disappointing draw. The VAR twice came to Venezuela's rescue while Roberto Firmino also had a first-half effort ruled out for a foul. Brazil enjoying 75 per cent possession in this game and of course, the result felt like two points lost.
And for Argentina, the noisy supporters seems to falling out of love with their national team after so many disappointments in the last years. Despite having important stars playing in the most important leagues, not to mention Lionel Messi, the team always encounters obstacles inside and outside the field. This time everything seems worse after presenting a totally inexperienced coach.
As South America only has ten countries associated to CONMEBOL, the
Copa America required more teams to create a workable tournament structure. Last edition, USA 2016, had six teams invited from North America to make four groups of four. But this time, the tournament returned to the format used since 1993 with 12 teams. Qatar and Japan were those invited.
An talking about Qatar, is fair to say that is the surprise team for this tournament so far. The Asian champions, after winning the Asia Cup 2019, fought back against Paraguay and draw 2-2. Someone said they were left a bit frustrated with their first ever competitive game outside Asia not ended in victory.
The other guest team is not doing very well. Chile, 2015 and 2016 Copa champions, thrash Japan with a thumping 4-0 win. The asian team is presenting a largely young and inexperienced side as they are using the tournament as a testing ground for players ahead of next year's Olympic Games in Tokyo.