Copa America History & Facts
On the 1st of July, the Copa America 2011 will start. Copa America, or America Cup, was first staged in 1916 in Argentina. It is an international relationship football tournament that involves only South American national teams. It is similar to the Euro, and in its history of the past 96 years, spectators have been able to watch some of the best football matches that have ever been staged. The powerhouses of football are Argentina, Uruguay and Brazil and the other competitive teams have always given sterling performances to capture the hearts of their fans.
The next Copa America tournament is just days away because it will start on July 1, 2011 and it will last for a month. It will be held in Argentina and 12 teams will participate. Argentina and Uruguay have been the most flourishing teams as they have won the title 14 times each. Brazil has won it 8 times and Paraguay and Peru winning it 2 times each. Columbia and Bolivia have one title each to their credit. This year's tournament is incredible to be very formidable because of the in-depth strength of the South American national teams. Among all sporting events of the world, Copa America is believed to be the most widely viewed.
The History of Copa America Tournament:
The first Copa America tournament in 1916 was held in Argentina in the middle of July 2 and July 17. Argentina, Brazil, Uruguay and Chile participated in it and Uruguay won the title after tying 0-0 with Argentina in the choosing final match. The success of this tournament acted as a catalyst for the Uruguayan Football relationship to originate a confederation of the football associations of Argentina, Brazil, Chile and Uruguay and Conmebol was founded. In 1917, the tournament was held for a second time and Uruguay won it again by beating Argentina 1-0 in the finals. The next tournament was held in 1919 in Brazil and the host country won the title for the first time. In 1921, Paraguay participated for the first time.
Rules of Copa America:
There are two stages in the Copa America tournament 2011. In the group stages, three groups with four teams in each group are created by using the Fifa world rankings to distribute the teams in some pots. Teams are then drawn randomly from the pots and allocated to the three groups. Each team will play the other teams in its group and on the basis of points two top teams from each group will emerge and advance to the knockout stage.
If two or more teams get the same estimate of points and are equal on other criteria, the final decision to pick the teams to advance to the knockout stage will be based on certain criteria about the estimate of goals and by drawing of lots.
In the knockout stages, each of the eight teams will be paired randomly and will take part in a single-elimination competition. Each match will be 90 minutes and if it is still a tie even after a 15-minute extra time duration in each half, the winner will be decided on the basis of penalties. The same pattern will be followed for the semi finals and then the finals. The two defeated teams in the semis will also clash in a third-place match.
Argentina is the host country for Copa America 2011. It has taken the World Cup twice and the America Cup 14 times. The predictions are that both Argentina and Uruguay are the favorites to win the championship in 2011.
