Copa America kicks off!

The eighth edition of the tournament, starting this evening, will get Brazil, Mexico, USA and Argentina to battle in Rio Quente

Eight out of eight is the figure Brazil is looking forward to in this Copa America raising its curtains today at the Hot Park Stadium in Rio Quente (Goias). The Verdeamarela, unchallenged domineers of a competition held from 1994 to 1999, and 2003 in its first stage, want the tradition not to cut short, something they will need to keep on the terrific pace for. With some of the best sides in the Pan American spectrum (CONCACAF Champions Mexico, CONMEBOL runner ups Argentina, and USA) Guga’s side cannot afford slowing down if they want to keep with their amazing 2012 winning flurry.

In the tournament’s opening, Argentina will play Mexico (15.30, local time) right before the hosts take over the USA (16.45 local time). In this match, Bruno Malias will have the chance to break the 200 goals barrier, something he wants to thank all his teammates for: “I owe a lot to them. If today I am that close to the 200 nets is mainly because of them”, he said. Regarding the game with which they are to step in the competition, the exquisite player assured that “we have been talking a lot about it. Last two years here in Rio Quente have not been good, with Chile and Uruguay taking the Copa Latina away, and we want to win this cup to bring further credibility and confidence to the Brazilian National Side”.  

In the fixture that meant, 16 years ago, the first official match in the history of Beach Soccer (Copacabana, 1994) the North-American side will bank on three Brazilian-rooted players, Francis Faberhoff, Leopoldo and Xexeo, in a moment in which the team is undergoing a revolution, with ten different players than the ones in the BSWW Cancun Cup.

In turn, Argentina gets some historic players back to the team, such as forward Federico Hilaire or Goalkeeper Marcelo Salgueiro, who highlighted after the training session yesterday that “Mexico is a team boasting very good skill, who are excellent with the ball. We need to be really focused if we want to success in the match”. One of the men Salgueiro will need to care about, brilliant forward Ricardo Villalobos, closed no doors to his team’s expectations: “We came to Brazil to make a good tournament, and, without losing no respect to any of our opponents, we are here to try to win. This is what we came for”.