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The Americas add some rhythm
to the World Cup
Aliet Arzola Lima
When it was announced that Brazil would host the
2014 World Cup, many thought of what the celebration
would mean for Latin America, not only serving as
the location of the world’s second most momentous
sports event after the Olympic Games, but also for
the opportunity to see the continent’s main teams
battle for the world title.
Past tournaments have been held in Uruguay 1930,
Chile 1962, Mexico 1970 and 1986, Argentina 1978,
the United States 1994 not to mention the
unforgettable competition of 1950 which took place
in Brazil, scene of the famous Maracanazo, one of
the biggest upsets in football history, when Brazil
were defeated 2-1 by Uruguay.
Brazil, Argentina and Uruguay have all shared the
World Cup title, sometimes due to the collective
effort of their teams, at others, due to the
individual performance of certain players who have
gone down in history as the greatest footballers of
all time.
The Latin American players participating in the 2014
World Cup are looking to achieve the legendary
status of Pelé and Maradona, or Juan Alberto
Schiaffino and Alcides Ghiggia, protagonists in the
definitive 1950 World Cup final between the “Sky
Blues” (Uruguay) and the “Green and Yellows”
(Brazil).
Until now, various Latin American squads have shown
their potential, while others haven’t lived up to
expectations so far, among them Argentina, Brazil
and Uruguay.
Argentina won its first match, but only due to Leo
Messi’s brilliance, whose task in the World Cup
seems titanic given the fact that he has to carry a
poorly formed team. The path for Brazil isn’t an
easy one either, opting for a more restrictive style
of play, a complete betrayal of their traditional
style also known as the jogo bonito or
“beautiful play”. It’s true that they don’t have the
same stars as before, but maintaining their identity
should be a fundamental objective in a nation which
has - for almost a century - been identified by its
attractive, creative, free-flowing style of
football, , with the goal always in the line of
vision, no matter how the game is going.
The case of Uruguay is more critical, given their
spectacular loss against another Latin American
team: Costa Rica. Such a colossal disaster is
currently one of the greatest surprises of the World
Cup, which doesn’t bode well for the team, managed
by Óscar Washington Tabárez, who must still face
Italy and England.
But let’s talk about the Costa Ricans, who won on
Brazilian soil playing an ambitious and face-paced
game. Their strengths lie in goalie Keylor Navas –
who conceded the fewest goals in the Spanish League
last season - and young left-footed striker Joel
Campbell, who holds a lot of potential and has
launched his candidacy for World Cup 2014
“newcomer.”
Colombia also performed well in their first World
Cup appearance in 16 years, beating Greece 3-0,
despite the absence of their
world-class strikers
Radamel Falcao (out of the tournament) and Carlos
Bacca, both injured, and are in a magnificent
position to advance past the group stage.
Mexico has constructed a strong defense holding both
Cameroon and Brazil to a 0-0 draw, ties which have
placed the team at the doors to the final 16, but
they will have to win a ticket in their last group
match against Croatia.
Finally, Chile and the United States are off to a
good start, but their selection in difficult groups
with Holland, Spain, Germany and Portugal, will keep
them waiting until the final moment to discover
their fate in the Brazil World Cup 2014, in which
Latin American teams are attempting to maintain the
tradition of keeping the trophy on the continent.
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