Copa America Femenina improving, but can anyone beat Brazil? – Ghana Latest Football News, Live Scores, Results

Brazil are favourites to defend their Copa America Femenina title. CLAUDIO REYES/AFP

The ninth Copa America Femenina, which kicks off in Colombia this Friday, seems to be like a major second within the improvement of the ladies’s sport in South America.

There’s the expectation of massive crowds within the cities of Cali, Armenia and Bucaramanga and, with the match now deliberate to be held each two years as a substitute of 4, there may be additionally a hope that requirements will proceed to rise. South America can not at the moment hope to match the power in depth of the Girls’s Euros however — maybe belatedly — it’s shifting in the appropriate path.

It’s the case, although, that the Copa would basically appear to be two totally different tournaments — one involving Brazil, the opposite together with the remaining 9 groups.

Brazil have claimed all however one of many eight earlier Copas — Argentina got here out on prime once they hosted the competitors in 2006. Round that point, although, a case could possibly be made for Brazil being the strongest aspect on this planet, regardless of developing simply brief in a succession of World Cups and Olympic tournaments. It was all primarily based on the spontaneous era of expertise in a rustic the scale of a continent. However as the game caught on all throughout the globe, Brazil complacently failed to take a position. By 2012 it was clear that that they had been overtaken, and so they haven’t subsequently bought near the intense silverware.

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However they’re now making up for misplaced time, creating their home league and appointing a nationwide group coach of huge expertise — Pia Sondhage, from Sweden, who took the US to Olympic golds in 2008 and 2012. Her process is to resume the aspect, each when it comes to personnel and of footballing id. With Marta injured, Formiga retired and Cristiane neglected, that is the primary match Brazil may have performed since 1995 with none of the three pillars of the nationwide group. Current defeats to Denmark and Sweden have been discouraging, however Sondhage hopes that after a strong month collectively, Brazil will come again from Colombia with the trophy and with a group able to going all the best way in subsequent yr’s World Cup in Australia and New Zealand.

Colombia bid unsuccessfully to stage that competitors — an illustration of the rising significance of the ladies’s sport within the nation, which has absolutely been boosted by robust cultural hyperlinks with the US. Apart from Brazil, there was no South American involvement in international competitions till the present century.

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To date, within the Olympics and the World Cup, there have been simply two non-Brazilian South American wins. In 2015, Colombia loved an excellent second, beating France 2-0 and making it by way of to the knockout stage, the place they fell to the U.S. And three years in the past, on the final World Cup, Chile received 2-0 over Thailand. This will have been a bunch sport of little obvious relevance however it will be unwise to miss its significance. Chile got here out of their World Cup debut with appreciable credit score, conceding 5 targets in 3 video games. Distinction this with Ecuador’s debut in 2015: 3 defeats, 1 purpose scored, 17 conceded.

Argentina did as badly in each its first tournaments in 2003 and 2007. Again within the discipline in 2019, although, they did significantly better. True, they’re nonetheless ready for a primary win, however their document — 2 attracts and a defeat, 3 scored, 4 conceded — tells an encouraging story. The South American groups are not merely going to make up the numbers. They’ll now be aggressive — and this Copa goes to find out who will get the prospect to be aggressive within the World Cup (3 locations plus 2 within the playoffs) and the 2024 Paris Olympics (two locations). It might be a significant shock if a kind of slots will not be snapped up by Brazil, however the battle being them ought to be very attention-grabbing.

Colombia are relying on residence benefit — which labored for his or her males’s group the one time the Copa America got here to the nation again in 2001. It stays Colombia’s solely win.

It may be a bit a lot to anticipate the ladies to beat Brazil, however that process comes later. First they should get out of the group, the place the stiffest opposition would appear more likely to come from the fast-developing Chile. Ecuador are additionally harmful, although their preparations have been hit by the wave of unrest within the nation, and Paraguay are beginning to enhance. Bolivia will most likely be the weakest group within the discipline.

Within the different group there may be the conflict between Brazil and Argentina — not as sharp as within the males’s sport with the disparity of forces, however nonetheless attention-grabbing as Brazil try and play their manner by way of the Argentine defence. Peru are nonetheless in early levels of improvement, however there could possibly be fireworks within the opening sport of the group, when Uruguay face Venezuela. These are two groups who’ve by no means made it to a World Cup or Olympics, however Venezuela have been giving a excessive precedence to the game, illustrated with two current heat ups wins over Chile, whereas Uruguay confirmed their improvement with a few thrashings of Bolivia. Of the 4 international locations from the continent by no means to have reached a worldwide occasion, these two — maybe particularly Venezuela — are essentially the most promising candidates.

What occurs in Colombia between 8-30 July may show to be an vital chapter in tales which have not too long ago began to be written.

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