IS SANCHEZ FEELING THE CHILE?

Who is this Chilean kissing the Copa America? Some managers can get the best of him!

The 46th Copa America is getting to its final stages with holders Chile and Alexis Sanchez in the hunt. Lionel Messi has had a "messy" tournament with his undoubted skills being hindered by rough pitches which he has described in a phrase..."the ball looks like a rabbit". I can see that.

Costs of tickets and various other obstacles has led to low attendances but if you happened to be living in Brazil and saw advertised Ecuador v Japan as a group game, would you go? With incentives of a free entry for buying a programme, 7623 turned up for the game which had originally sold only 2100 tickets. The stadium holds 62,000.

Hosts Brazil have not hit the spot with poor performances leading to home crowds booing them in the Minerao stadium, the place where Brazil lost 7-1 to Germany in the World Cup of 2014. Bad memories.

The semi-finals provide the Latins with two Clasicos;
Brazil v Argentina "the Super Clasico de las Americas" on July 2nd, in Belo Horizonte and
Peru (who beat favourites Uruguay) v Chile (the defending champs) in "the Clasico del Pacifico" on the 3rd July in Porto Alegre.

Three of the quarter-finals went to 0-0 and then penalties, while Argentina beat Venezuela 2-0. VAR was in good use  amongst the 0-0s apparently!

Brazil, once the bosses of Latin America, are hoping for their first Copa title since 2007.
Argentina have lost the last 2 Copa finals on penalties to Chile.
Chile are aiming for three consecutive titles to match the last time this was done by Argentina in the late 1940s.

Japan and Qatar were invited guests this time to make up the numbers.

Uruguay the first winners of the Copa in 1916 Uruguay, held in Buenos Aires. 4 teams (Chile, Uruguay, Argentina and Brazil) only took part in a commemoration of Argentina's independence.
Isabelino Gradin top scorer for Uruguay in the 1916 competition, with three goals in the "round robin". On 2nd July 1916 Ururguay beat Chile 4-0 fielding the first black footballers in the South American international tournament,  Juan Delgado joined Isabelino. Chile complained about playing Africans.
Gradin was the great grandson of an African slave from Lethoso, brought up in the Palermo "barrio" in Montivideo, joining the famous Penarol club in 1918-21. He played 212 games and scored 101 goals, but he walked away in 1021 and formed his own team Olimpia FC which later became River Plate. He retired in 1929 and has a Square in Montevideo named after him (2009).
A top class sprinter he also ran for his country in athletic events before he died in poverty in 1944. Delgado was a centre half and very successful too.

Here is JD Brown of Scottish origin on the left, with one of his footballing cousins, Jorge. JD who played for Argentina! You can see why Gradin was so successful playing against such chunks?