No sooner will domestic campaigns across the football world be concluding, then two major international tournaments will begin this summer, and one of them is the Copa America.
While Europe’s top nations will be battling it out at Euro 2024, South America’s finest will head, on this occasion, to North America in a bid to be crowned king of their continent.
That should mean plenty of action to enjoy, and Copa America 2024 highlights aplenty.
Of course, you may wonder why exactly the tournament is being hosted stateside—only the second time it will have been held outside South America (the US also hosted it in 2016)—and that is because it forms part of a strategic partnership between CONMEBOL and CONCACAF to strengthen and develop the sport in both regions.
The competition had been expected to be hosted by Ecuador because of CONMEBOL’s host rotation order, but they ultimately decided to decline.
Peru and the USA had both expressed interests, but the organising rights were eventually awarded to the latter as a build-up to the 2026 World Cup.
It begs the question: can the US realistically win Group C?
Well, they are the fifth favourites with the SBOTOP Copa America 2024 betting odds, just behind Mexico, and while both will fancy their chances of going deep into the competition, their first aim is to be the bosses of the North and Central continents.
There is no doubt that being a host nation can bring pressure and expectations, which can work for or against you.
Football (or soccer) in the USA has grown significantly in the last few years because of two things. First, more of their players are currently playing in Europe, and second, the high-profile arrival of Lionel Messi elevated Major League Soccer.
The likes of Christian Pulisic (AC Milan), Sergino Dest (PSV Eindhoven), Folarin Balogun (AS Monaco), Weston McKennie (Juventus), Timothy Weah (Juventus), and Tim Ream (Fulham) basically prove the first point. Not only are they playing for some leading European sides, they have been important to their squads as well.
And with respected manager Gregg Berhalter still in charge, there appears to be stability in the US, which should serve them well in a group that comprises Uruguay, Panama and Bolivia.
My colleague likes the look of the clash between the USA and Uruguay in Kansas City on July 1. These are two high-ranking sides; the hosts, captained by Pulisic, have exciting youngsters, including Pulisic’s Rossoneri teammate Yunus Musah in their ranks, alongside Nottingham Forest stars Giovanni Reyna and Balogun, and will be an entertaining side to watch.
Pulisic is one of the players who excites me, and he knows this summer provides a platform.
The most expensive American player of all time, he captained his country for the first time aged 20 and was the first American to play in the Champions League final.
A decade since he moved to Europe, he has only played for big clubs—Borussia Dortmund, Chelsea and now Milan. This is what, relatively speaking, makes him a veteran in football terms.
The Stars and Stripes will be given their sternest group test by Uruguay, now coached by former Argentina and one-time Leeds boss Marcelo Bielsa.
La Celeste has a long history of success at major international tournaments and is expected to continue that trend with a hungry young group.
Bielsa has rung the changes, no surprise after they failed to get out of the group stage at the last World Cup, and he is certainly making headlines as he attempts to transform them from a rugged, veteran-led side to a quick-punching, ball-dominant one.
In doing so, he has steered Uruguay beyond the era of Luis Suárez and Edinson Cavani, two elite goalscorers who have defined their country at the international level for nearly 20 years.
This has made him a controversial figure, with some sectors of the Uruguayan press describing his succession plan as locuras, or “madness,” appropriate for the man nicknamed El Loco or “the Madman.” That will hardly bother him.
My second player to keep a close eye on, assuming he is selected, will be 22-year-old Facundo Pellistri.
He joined Granada on loan from Manchester United in January and has not set alight La Liga, yet remains a young talent who has shown he can truly blossom.
Indeed, he made the perfect start to Spanish life when he grabbed a goal and an assist for the now-relegated Andalusians in a highly credible 3-3 draw against Barcelona.
This summer could well provide a welcome distraction from a tough club environment and leave him heading back to England, ready for the next stage in his development.
With the likes of my final player to watch close by to guide him, it should bode well.
The effervescent Federico Valverde could well be a Champions League winner as well as a La Liga winner by the time he arrives in the States.
He certainly is the epitome of a Bielsa player, with his work rate and high-pressing attitudes extremely conducive to the Argentine’s methods, although there’s no doubting his quality on the ball either.
How Uruguay fare this summer will be, in no small part, down to his influence.
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