South American football expert Jonathan Wilson picks over the bones of the shock-heavy Copa America quarter-finals, in a piece exclusive to ITV Football.
As he read out the line-ups before Argentina’s group game against Colombia, the stadium announcer described Lionel Messi as "the best player in the world" and then acknowledged Carlos Tevez as "el jugador del pueblo". After the events of Saturday, when the Copa America hosts went out in the quarter-finals in a shoot-out against Uruguay, the Manchester City forward may find he is no longer "the player of the people".
It’s not just that he was the only player to fail from the penalty spot; it’s that it was his omission against Costa Rica that led to – by far – Argentina’s best performance of the competition, and that after he came off the bench against Uruguay, tactical anarchy set in. He and Messi are both false nines, even if Messi was at his best in the tournament playing from the right, and Sergio Batista has found no way of accommodating the pair
What will frustrate Argentina and their fans the most – or at least those who don’t insist that Tevez must play because he shows 'passion' – is the realisation that, as the game against Uruguay began to slip away from them, as the man advantage they enjoyed for 50 minutes failed to bring the anticipated winner, Batista fell into the same trap he had in the first two matches, throwing on attacking players with no thought to shape. Uruguay’s coach, Oscar Washington Tabarez, is justifiably revered as a tactician, but the comprehensiveness of his team's victory was startling.
"Failure is a very strong word," said Batista. "I wouldn’t call this a failure." Plenty of others have, though, Batista’s protestations that he has been in the job only five months and is still working to achieve the required balance cutting little ice. Most locals have been scathing of him from the off, despairing of the policy of Julio Grondona, the head of the local federation, of appointing members of the 1986 World Cup-winning squad to every key coaching position.
Brazil no better
The only consolation for Argentina is that Brazil’s Copa followed an almost identical trajectory. Poor for two games, expansive in a third against inferior opposition, and ended in the last eight by dogged opponents who rode their luck before winning on penalties. Brazil had chance after chance against Paragauy, but found the Paraguay goalkeeper Justo Villar in inspired form and in the end went out because none of their four takers could score from the penalty spot in the shoot-out. Elano, their first taker blamed the pitch (which looked dreadful, pocked and filled with green sand as early as the second match), and replays showed he had slipped, and every other taker seemed intimidated. The only penalties scored were those belted straight down the middle by Marcelo Estigarribia and Cristian Riveros, and the only three goals in open play in four games at the stadium were two volleys and a close-range prod. Ball-striking off the ground there is perhaps tough.
Paraguay’s reward for knocking out the holders is a semi-final against Venezuela, in their first semi-final and having, in this tournament, doubled the number of games they’ve ever won at the Copa America.
Venezuela have been a revelation, but were extremely fortunate to beat Chile, who twice hit the woodwork and had two efforts cleared off the line. With Tomas Rincon, their inspirational midfield holder suspended for the semi-final, Venezuela will find it tough while a host of Mendoza restaurateurs and hoteliers will curse the absence of a Chilean invasion.
Uruguay, meanwhile, face Peru, who began the weekend of shocks with a 2-0 extra-time victory over Colombia. They too rode their luck, with Dayro Moreno hitting the post and Radamel Falcao missing a penalty, but won through thanks to some woeful goalkeeping from Luis Martinez and two marvellous finishes from Carlos Lobaton and Juan Vargas.
Failure might be a strong word, but Argentina were not the only favoured side it applied to this weekend.
Jonathan is editor of The Blizzard and you can follow him on Twitter
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