Copa America 2015: Colombia, Lionel Messi, Neymar & Arturo Vidal Among Disappointments of Group Stage
The first round of the Copa America has come to an end. As is usually the case with major tournaments, there are bound to be a plethora of disappointments to take away from the opening batch of games.
Often times these disappointments involve teams that fail to live up to expectations and crash out quickly from the competition. In a forgiving competition in which only four of 12 teams are eliminated, there are bound to be disappointments among teams that still have life. Here they are.
Arturo Vidal's Situation & Chile's Handling of it
This is not a soccer-related one but more of a moral situation that deserves mention. Vidal endangered his own life and that of his wife by acting in a manner that is globally viewed as reckless. He is fortunate to have not suffered any major injuries after crashing his car under the influence of alcohol.
That should have ended his tournament, but the team opted to support him and bail out its star. That is understandable on some level, but what is baffling are statements like the one coach Jorge Sampaoli made during a press conference in regards to the situation.
"We know he made a mistake but we can't judge him for that because we believe it's not such a big thing as the press made it look," he stated, according to Vavel.
He committed an illegal deal. It was a big thing, and it was poorly handled.
Neymar
While we are talking about poor conduct by players, why not bring up Neymar and his poor antics against Colombia? Yes, he was the target of Colombia's plan. Yes, he got bullied physically on the night.
However, he failed to show the maturity of a captain capable of carrying a team on his back. He wound up letting his guard down emotionally and is now out of the tournament.
This is rather unfortunate considering the wondrous performance he put up against Peru in the opener.
Brazil's inability to convince
With Neymar the team looked one-dimensional. Without him, there was more pizazz in the play with other supporting players taking on leading roles.
The team still looks weak defensively, a huge disappointment when one considers that Dunga was brought in precisely to create a more balanced side.
The world still has no idea how good this Brazil side can be. So far the results are mixed at best.
Messi & Argentina's poor finishing & overall lack of balance
Finishing in two senses. The team failed to hold a 2-0 lead against Paraguay after looking like the world beaters everyone expected. Moreover, the team looked poor at scoring against a clearly inferior Jamaica side. A 1-0 win in that game simply does not cut it.
Neither does Lionel Messi's single penalty goal despite creating around 5.4 shots per game for his nation. For Barcelona, the "best player in the world" averaged 4.9 shots per game and scored 43 the entire season.
The lack of efficiency for his nation is baffling.
Jose Pekerman's insistence on using Radamel Falcao
Last summer, Colombia had the most entertaining attack game in the entire World Cup.
This summer the team lacks cohesion, team work and looks lost on the attack. The single goal Colombia has in three matches tells you everything you need to know about Colombia's failures.
What happened?
It actually revolves around one man. Or more like two.
Jose Pekerman has started Radamel Falcao in every single game to date, and the gamble has failed time and again. It is understandable that Pekerman wants to give the historic player a chance to regain form, but this is hardly the time to do. Especially with Colombia struggling to create offense.
Hopefully Pekerman has learned his lesson and benches Falcao against Argentina.
Edinson Cavani
With no Luis Suarez, Uruguay, it seems, will face huge problems. Edinson Cavani was expected to take the mantle for the defending champs with his striker partner out due to suspension. But Cavani has been a nonentity for his nation, creating three shots per game but doing little else.