Introducing The Copa America Football Tournament

The Copa America is a football tournament that is played between nations of South America. Soccer, as the sport is popularly known in the United States, is the most popular sport in these countries. The participating countries are all members of the CONMEBOL which stands for the South American Football Association. With only ten member nations, it is one of FIFA’s smallest groups. The tournament format requires 12 nations so there are two countries that are invited to the tournament.

In 1993, the United States was invited together with Mexico and Costa Rica. The U. S. Couldn’t make it this year. In the history of the tournament, only seven nations have won the trophy in 42 events. Because the member nations of the games have won the World Cup nine times with Brazil winning five of them, expect the Copa America to be one of the best football tournaments in the world.

The host of the games is Argentina. The tournament started on July 1 and ends on July 24. It was Brazil who won the cup in 2009. The invited nations this year were Mexico and Japan. Conflicting schedules among Japanese players made them decline the invitation and Costa Rica agreed to replace them.

Each member nation will submit 23 names for the roster of players. Three players must be goalkeepers. Match officials come from the member nations of the CONMEBOL.

The 53,000 seat Estadia Ciudad de la Plata was the host of the opening games. In the opening stages of the tournament, the 12 teams will be divided into three groups. Six games will be played in each group.

There will be 18 games that will be played in the group stage. Those who finish first and second plus the two best third place finishers will qualify for the quarterfinals. Thus the next round will only be composed of eight teams.

The games are still at the group stage. Argentina is with Group A and with two drawn games hasn’t started spectacularly. The quarterfinal round will take place on July 16. On July 19, the semifinals will be played and finally the finals will take place on July 24 at Buenos Aires at their Estadio Monumental Antonio Vespucio Liberti.

The Copa America is one of the most watched football tournaments of the world. Five time World Cup winner Brazil is the defending champion but the world’s greatest player Lionel Messi is from Argentina. It will be Brazil’s Robinho with 25 goals who will be matched up with Messi who has 17 goals. The tournament is still unfolding at the beginning stages and it is still everyone’s ball game.

Find out more about the Copa America live by visiting our website where you can also place a bet through bet365 or many of the other companies available.

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