The thread for the Eurocup exist, so why not make one for Copa America ?

Because it would be only me speaking

I haven't watched a match from Copa América but there are some results that surprised me. Brazil seems to have dominated against Costa Rica but couldn't score.
In my opinion, Argentina will win the competition. Venezuela might be a team to keep an eye on.

This was never a tournament with a lot of highlights, but I can't quite figure out if this Copa América is really that bad or if it just coincided with a very good Euro Cup. It's unwatchable even for South Americans themselves (plus, more than half the continent has to watch the matches on illegal streaming sites because the broadcasting rights were monopolized!).

One would think it has to do with the host country (it probably does have to do with the host country though...) but the 2016 one held in the USA was excellent, top-notch. South American national teams are overall at a historic low, and it doesn't help that there are so many CONCACAF teams... They're all terrible! It usually gets much better in the knockout stages, but if it continues like this...

Yes, this is another thing I thought about. I understand the intention of having more countries represented in the competition, but teams like Jamaica and Panama really decrease the overall level of the tournament. I've been thinking for a while that a merger between Gold Cup and Copa América with a qualifying stage wouldn't be a bad idea.

And that's 29 clean sheets in 39 matches... Saved penalties, historic plays, and almost all possible titles. Influence on fans, teammates, and rivals. We are not worthy of Emiliano Martínez. It's only a matter of him playing more matches to become the best goalkeeper in the history of the national team. Those who call him overrated are just people who don't know about football.



Actually, it would be a terrible idea. Not only because of the complicated logistics and organization but simply because they are two confederations that have absolutely nothing to do with each other: it's like trying to combine UEFA with AFC just because they share the same geographical mass.

The distance between the countries of South America and those of North and Central America is too great. It would affect the economies of the federations since the trips would be longer and more expensive than the revenue they can generate. CONCACAF is very large, and most of the countries are very small. When people talk about combining CONCACAF and CONMEBOL, they think about what it would be like to see Mexico play against Argentina or the USA play against Brazil, but they don't consider that those same teams would have to play against Guadeloupe, Grenada, the Virgin Islands, etc.

Moreover, the economic aspect is, of course, extremely important. The two confederations have different commercial agreements and broadcasting rights, and it would be impossible to unify these contracts without negatively affecting the revenues of both sides. The USA is the eternal host of the Gold Cup for monetary reasons; do you really think the USA would want to integrate into CONMEBOL and lose all the income generated by being the almost permanent host of a tournament that handles as much money (yes, they handle A LOT of money) as the Gold Cup? We already saw what happened when Mexican teams played in the Copa Libertadores: the federations lost a lot of money.

And it's not just that, it wouldn't be beneficial football-wise for either confederation. For Argentina, Brazil, Uruguay, etc., there's no benefit whatsoever in playing against Mexico or the USA, which are the most important teams over there, and much less in playing against lesser teams like Honduras or El Salvador. Moreover, it would almost completely eliminate the chances for smaller teams to qualify for a World Cup. By unifying, the number of spots for international tournaments like the World Cup or the Olympic Games would be affected, reducing opportunities for North American teams other than Mexico and the USA, which would already find it much harder to qualify. Smaller and youth teams could have fewer opportunities to compete internationally if the confederations are combined, as regional competitions could become less frequent. And most importantly to me: each confederation has its own identity, traditions, and historical rivalries. It would be best to respect them. In South America, we don't want a whitewashed version of football, without traditions, and that affects the passion of the fans, which is what characterizes us the most. Or why do you think there are so few people in the stands at the Copa America compared to the stands at the Eurocup when historically both competitions have had similar attendance level? The only reason is that the Cup is being played in the north... It really is a bad idea and it would be best for both confederations not to even try it.

No, those people just watch him play for his club where he isn't that great on a regular basis. His incredible penalty saving skills are are the main reason why he is overrated and the other reason is the level of South American football nowadays. So he got those clean sheets? Great, just look at the opponents that he faced in those matches: In the recent WC qualification he kept five clean sheets but how is this amazing when the opponents are mostly average players or guys that are all years past their peak? Seriously, I didn't even know that Marcelo Moreno (FIFA 08 legend) is still his nation's first choice, same goes for Vargas for Chile or Guerrero for Peru. The only "serious" forwards that he faced where the Brazilians (Gabriel Jesus/Rodrygo) and Uruguay (Nunez who even scored against him) and even there you can't deny that they're only a shadow of what those Nations used to field in the 2000s and early 2010s. And not just the forwards, in general South American football has declined incredibly over the years..
I'm pretty sure that if you put Fillol in the curent team, he would easily put up the same or better statistics - even Goycochea could play a similar role.

It was already tried before. A Panamerican tournament was held every 4 years.

1952: Brazil won
1956: Brazil won
1960: Argentina won

It was an unpopular tournament though.

The UEFA Euro has never had Asian teams and the Asian Cup has never had European teams. And the argument about the lack of benefit for teams like Brazil and Argentina in facing USA, Mexico makes no sense. CONMEBOL still invites North American teams and has even invited Asian teams in the past. Ultimately, isn't the Copa América already a Pan-American tournament anyway? And doesn't Africa have multiple continental competitions? It's not like small African countries are much wealthier than small North American countries. Also, it's true that North American teams would have even less chances to qualify for big tournaments but isn't this the same in Europe, for example, for countries like Andorra and San Marino (that recently proved to be even worse than Saint Lucia and Saint Kitts and Nevis, by the way).

the fact that Argentina plays with Alvarez instead of Lautaro in the starting 11 is something I'll never understand

The Copa América is not a Pan-American tournament, it's South American. This Copa has 16 teams because it's being played in the United States, just like it happened in 2016. As I said before, the US wouldn't host a tournament only with South American nations because that would be a waste of money for them, so they include the North American countries that bring them a lot more revenue, even if it does not seem like it. I don't mind having guest nations every now and then, it wouldn't be the first time and it definitely won't be the last, but what's being done now is pure nonsense. Copa América shouldn't be more than 12 teams.



But those teams have been part of UEFA for more than 30 years already. No team from Concacaf would want to merge the two confederations knowing that the little chances they already have of qualifying for international tournaments playing there would disappear. And I really mean it when I say I don't see any benefit for the big teams in South America to play against the US and Mexico, they are not competitive. They might be better than some South American nations but it means absolutely no improvement for us nonetheless. And that's just talking about the National Teams.

They lose money playing against us and we receive nothing in exchange. Bad deal for both sides.

I understand what you said. But I don't mean to merge the two confederations. You can still have separate World Cup qualifiers for each confederation. I only suggested the same continental competition for both North and South American national teams. And this is just my opinion of course, but I've neven been a fan of a continental tournament with no qualifying stage. South American teams just get a bye every time because CONMEBOL only has 12 teams to begin with.

Uruguay is looking good, I wonder how they'll perform vs a strong team

Maybe in other words, it will work, Concacaf tournament can still happen, but there can still be a tournament of a whole America. They can take Asian tournament as a case. Each region still have its own tournament like EAFF E-1 for East Asia, AFF cup for S.E. Asia, Gulf cup for Arabia, etc. And they all have to qualify to play in Asian Cup. About the benefits for the big teams, maybe it's about the popularity of the tournament, which leads to financial benefits (IMO that's what the big teams in S.America care the most, because they accept many friendly matches around the world) rather than professional benefits.

basically every match so far has been good, I don't understand why the Eurocup is so boring and full of own goals compared to the Copa America