Spanning a century of keen rivalry, suffused by politics and history — the Copa America, which begins tomorrow in Argentina, is where the cultural and sporting twain meet, uniting a continent in one of its most enduring passions.
It used to be only the world’s second-oldest international soccer tournament — but after the 1980s demise of the old British Home Internationals, it is the Copa — first held in 1916 — which now can lay claim to that epithet.
While Latin America — not just South American, given a regular guest slot invite to Mexico — remembers to offer an historic nod in the direction British, who laid the groundwork for the rules of the modern game, with many top clubs given English names, the Latin game was quick to carve itself a continental identity well before the first World Cup of 1930.
British railway workers introduced locals to the game in Argentina, where the first recorded game was held in 1867, prior to the creation of the Argentine Footbal Association in 1893.
By 1910, the round ball had become a fixture with sports fans and Argentina invited Chile and Uruguay to a tri-nations tournament to commemorate the May Revolution of 1810.
Although that event was not officially sanctioned, by 1916 it had morphed into the Campeonato Sudamericano de Selecciones (South American championship of national teams), crucially adding Brazil into the mix.
Given that Brazil are on a hat-trick of Copa crowns going into this year’s edition, the Argentines may reflect that it might have been an invitation too many — but in reality they and Uruguay lead the honors board with 14 triumphs each to only eight for the auriverde.
Brazil can, of course, comfort themselves with five World Cups to two for their Copa-collecting neighbors.
Uruguay, as would later happen with the World Cup in 1930, won the first edition at Argentina’s expense and then repeated the dose the following year, this time on home soil, before Brazil got off the mark, also at home, in 1919.
Until the tournament was formally baptized the Copa America in time for the 1975 event, Argentina and Uruguay dominated the winners roster — a notable exception coming with minnows Bolivia triumphing in 1963 in their own landlocked country.
The early years of the Copa era followed that pattern, though Brazil did lift the trophy in 1989 after a 40-year gap, inspired by the predatory instincts of Bebeto — though it was Romario who hit the decider at a packed Maracana against Uruguay.
However, the selecao, perhaps galvanized by a fourth World Cup in 1994, then turned to redressing the balance nearer home and Brazil have won four of the last five editions — Colombia interrupting the sequence in 2001.
The Copa has traditionally been a chance for the regional powerhouses to wean up-and-coming talents — Brazil are hoping that the likes of Santos’ Neymar will set this edition alight, while Argentina will pray for some Barcelona-esque form from the peerless Lionel Messi.
Despite the kudos that winning the tournament can bring — and putting Argentine noses out of joint in their rivals’ backyard would be a sweet feeling for the Brazilians — coach Mano Menezes admits that the event is essentially a dress rehearsal for the 2014 World Cup, when the auriverde will welcome the world for the first time since 1950.
That extravaganza was all going to plan until Uruguay bagged a shock win in the final and the wound has not entirely closed, hence the need to look ahead.
A sumo star was born in Japan on Sunday when 24-year-old Takerufuji became the first wrestler in 110 years to win a top-division tournament on his debut, triumphing at the 15-day Spring Grand Sumo Tournament in Osaka despite injuring his ankle on the penultimate day. Takerufuji, whose injury had left him in a wheelchair outside the ring, shoved out the higher-ranked Gonoyama at the Edion Arena Osaka to the delight of the crowd, giving him an unassailable record of 13 wins and two losses to claim the Emperor’s Cup. “I did it just through willpower. I didn’t really know what was going
The US’ Ilia Malinin on Saturday produced six scintillating quadruple jumps, including a quadruple Axel, in the men’s free skate to capture his first figure skating world title. The 19-year-old nicknamed the “Quad god,” who is the only skater to land a quadruple Axel in competition, dazzled with an array of breathtakingly executed jumps starting with his quad Axel and including a quadruple Lutz in combination with a triple flip and a quadruple toe loop in combination with a triple toe. He added an unexpected triple-triple combination at the end to earn a world-record 227.79 in the free program for a championship
Shohei Ohtani’s interpreter is being criminally investigated by the IRS, and the attorney for his alleged bookmaker said Thursday that the ex-Los Angeles Dodgers employee placed bets on international soccer — but not baseball. The IRS confirmed Thursday that interpreter Ippei Mizuhara and Mathew Bowyer, the alleged illegal bookmaker, are under criminal investigation through the agency’s Los Angeles Field Office. IRS Criminal Investigation spokesperson Scott Villiard said he could not provide additional details. Mizuhara, 39, was fired by the Dodgers on Wednesday following reports from the Los Angeles Times and ESPN about his alleged ties to an illegal bookmaker and debts well
MLB on Friday announced a formal investigation into the scandal swirling around Shohei Ohtani and his former interpreter amid charges that the Los Angeles Dodgers superstar was the victim of “massive theft.” The Dodgers on Wednesday fired Ippei Mizuhara, Ohtani’s long-time interpreter and close friend, after Ohtani’s representatives alleged that the Japanese two-way star had been the victim of theft, which was reported to involve millions of dollars and link Mizuhara to a suspected illegal bookmaker in California. “Major League Baseball has been gathering information since we learned about the allegations involving Shohei Ohtani and Ippei Mizuhara from the news media,” MLB