Brazil forward Neymar will miss the 2024 Copa America in the United States as he continues to recover from the serious knee injury that he suffered in October. “It’s too early,” Brazil’s team doctor Rodrigo Lasmar revealed. “There’s no point in skipping steps to recover sooner and taking unnecessary risks. Our expectation is that he will be prepared to return at the start of the 2024 season in Europe, which is August.”

Neymar tore the cruciate ligament and meniscus in his left knee during his country’s 2-0 loss to Uruguay in their World Cup qualifier on October 18. He underwent surgery two weeks later. This injury came just two months after he arrived at Saudi Pro League club Al Hilal from Paris Saint-Germain.

The 2024 Copa America will take place from June 20 until July 14, just weeks before Neymar’s expected return from injury. The forward’s absence will be of grave concern to Brazil, given that he is the nation’s all-time top scorer with 79 goals in 129 appearances. Brazil find themselves in Group D, alongside Colombia, Paraguay, and the winner of the playoff between Costa Rica and Honduras.

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CONMEBOL confirmed on Friday that the United States is set to host the 2024 edition of the Copa America. This comes after an agreement was reached between the South American football federation and CONCACAF, of which the United States is a member.

The upcoming tournament will also adopt a 16-team format; six of which are set to be teams from the CONCACAF. This will see teams from North and Central America as well as the Caribbean compete to qualify for the tournament alongside 10 of their South American contemporaries.

On the women’s front, the 2024 CONCACAF W Gold Cup. will consist of four teams from COMNEBOL. This tournament with a new 12-team format will also be hosted by the United States.

The four COMNEBOL guests that will participate are those that performed best in the 2022 Women’s Copa America, namely champions Brazil, runner-up Colombia, third-placed Argentina, and fourth-placed Paraguay.

“CONMEBOL and Concacaf are united by historical and affective ties,” CONMEBOL president Alejandro Dominguez said following the announcement. “But above all, we are united by the passion, characteristic of all the Americas, for football and sports.”

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Copa America champions Argentina thumped Euro 2020 winners Italy 3-0 in a match dubbed the “Finalissima” on Wednesday night. This game is a revival of the Cup of Champions; a match between the winners of the European and South American continental football competitions.

The match marked the return of the Italian national team to Wembley Stadium in London, where they defeated England on penalties to lift the Euro 2020 trophy. The stadium was packed with 87,000 fans, a significant number of whom made the trip from Buenos Aires to support the reigning South American champions.

Lautaro Martinez and Angel Di Maria handed the Argentinians the advantage in the first half, while Paulo Dybala wrapped up the scoring with a 94th-minute goal at the death.

“It was a beautiful final, full of Argentinians. What we’ve experienced here was beautiful. We knew it was going to be an attractive game and a nice setting to be champion,” Lionel Messi stated following his team’s resounding victory.

What was a moment of pride for Argentina turned out to be an anticlimactic finale for veteran Azzurri defender Giorgio Chiellini, who was subbed off at halftime in what was his final match for the Italian national team.

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The 2020 EURO champions and 2021 Copa America winners, Italy and Argentina, respectively, will face off in a competitive match in 2022 as part of efforts from Europe’s soccer governing body UEFA and South America’s CONMEBOL to expand their cooperation.

The UEFA announced the match, reportedly referred to as “Finalissima”, on Tuesday and revealed that the event is set to take place in June next year. Further details, including the venue and exact date, remain unknown.

Italy won the 2020 EURO on penalties against England, claiming their second European Championship. Argentina, on the other hand, won their 15th Copa America title by beating their biggest rivals Brazil 1-0 in the finals. This was also the first major trophy for superstar Lionel Messi in Argentina’s jersey.

The initial agreement between the UEFA and CONMEBOL laid plans for three editions of Finalissima. According to the current schedule of European and South American continental soccer competitions, Finalissima would be played each four years.

“By reaching this agreement, UEFA and CONMEBOL express their commitment to the development of football beyond their geographical zones, as a bridge uniting people, countries, continents, and cultures,” said UEFA in a statement.

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The Copa America soccer tournament, which was scheduled to take place in Colombia and Argentina this summer, has been postponed until summer 2021 due to the ongoing coronavirus outbreak.

This semi-regular competition is held as a tournament to decide the best team in South American soccer. Unfortunately, soccer fans will be forced to wait until next summer to see a new champion crowned.

President Alejandro Dominguez, the head of CONMEBOL, acknowledged that it would be impossible to have the tournament go on this year. He said, “This is an extraordinary measure for an unexpected situation and responds to the fundamental need to avoid the exponential evolution of the virus.”

Nearly all soccer leagues around the world, including the vast majority of South America and Europe’s domestic competitions, are currently on hold as the world fights to slow down the coronavirus pandemic.

The Copa America tournament joined the UEFA Euro tournament in the postponement, with the premier European soccer competition also announcing earlier in the day that the tournament would be delayed until next year.

With domestic soccer leagues still looking to finish their seasons at a later time, with the summer almost guaranteed to be used if leagues do resume, it would have been impractical to have Copa America go on this summer, which means that fans will just have to press pause on it for one year.

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Two South American superpowers met for the right to play in the Copa America Final on Tuesday night, but only one could move on.

After a game in which Argentina created more chances but simply couldn’t find the net, Brazil won the right to play for the continent’s championship after achieving a 2-0 win over Argentina in Belo Horizonte.

It was yet another disappointment for Argentina and Leo Messi in an international competition, as they have now gone since 1993 without winning a major trophy.

Brazil managed only 4 shots all night, but its hyper-efficient 50% conversion rate was enough to carry them to victory. Their first goal came at the 19th minute to give them an early 1-0 edge when Gabriel Jesus buried a perfect cross from Roberto Firmino.

Argentina had plenty of opportunities to tie up the score after Jesus’s goal. Sergio Agüero looked to have beaten Brazil goalie Alisson Becker shortly after the opener, but his header went off of the crossbar.

Becker then went on to make a stunning save to deny a perfect shot by Leo Messi on a free kick in the 66th minute.

The home side wrapped it up with a goal just five minutes later by Firmino. They didn’t play their best match, but their fortune combined with Argentina’s bad shooting night was enough to get the job done.

Now, they’ll advance to play either Peru or Chile in the competition’s final.

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It was easy work for the Uruguay men’s national soccer team as they took care of Ecuador with a convincing 4-0 win in the first game in Group C action at the 2019 Copa America in Brazil.

Uruguay started early and didn’t let up, scoring in just the 5th minute of the game to take a 1-0 lead with a Nicolás Lodeiro goal.

The two most well-known players on La Celeste‘s roster also got into the action before halftime, with both Edinson Cavani and Luis Suárez scoring goals.

Cavani’s goal was a brilliant bicycle kick that will surely go down as the goal of the tournament. It gave Uruguay a 2-0 lead.

Suárez then got in on the action just before halftime, beating Ecuador goalie Alexander Domínguez to put his country up 3-0.

Ecuador then scored another own goal in the second half to put the game far away at 4-0, the final result which Uruguay took three points with.

This result puts them at the top of Group C with 3 points and was a strong and convincing start for one of the favorites to win this year’s tournament. Uruguay will look to seal its berth in the knockout stage when it faces Japan later this week.

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Copa America’s Group B got off to an unexpected start on Saturday night as Colombia upset Argentina by a final score of 2-0.

Argentina, led by Leo Messi, was disjointed and unable to break through against Colombia’s rock solid defense. It’s yet another disappointment for the Argentinian National Team after a disappointing Round of 16 exit at last summer’s World Cup.

Despite having superstars such as Messi, Sergio Agüero, and Ángel Di Maria on its offense, Argentina couldn’t muster a goal despite 13 shots on the night.

Colombia, on the other hand, played smart team soccer and kept the Albiceleste from finding open space. They were knotted at 0-0 at the break, but were able to push through and find the net twice in the second half.

Colombia’s first goal came in the 71st minute when substitute winger Roger Martínez beat Franco Armani with an unstoppable right-footed strike.

The Cafeteros assured their victory when striker Duván Zapata, who had recently come on to replace star striker Radmael Falcao, buried home a Jefferson Lerma cross to give Colombia a 2-0 lead in the 86th minute, assuring a crucial victory.

Colombia is now in control of Group B and will look to seal up their berth in the knockout stage of the competition when they play Qatar in São Paulo on Wednesday.

For Argentina, they now must regroup and not allow their surprising first defeat prevent them from moving on to the next round.

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One of the most anticipated events of this summer in the sports world is the Copa América, which kicks off next weekend on June 14.

This competition puts South America’s top national teams against one another in order to crown a champion of the CONMEBOL field of teams. Outside of Europe, South America is undoubtedly the strongest soccer continent on earth.

Many teams will compete to claim the crown as the winners of the Copa America, including Argentina, Brazil, and the reigning champions, Chile. However, if we had to pick a favorite for this year’s competition, we would have to go with Uruguay.

Uruguay is, believe it or not, the national team which has won the most Copa Americas in the competition’s history. The winners of 15 Copa Americas, however, haven’t taken home the trophy since 2011 after Chile’s recent dominance.

This year, we expect the Sky Blues to claim another title. Here’s why.

Uruguay is a veteran team that has tons of experience in competitions such as the World Cup and this tournament. While other countries have stars like Leo Messi (Argentina) and James Rodríguez (Colombia), Uruguay’s team is a solid bunch that has played in tons of important games together.

Veteran defenders such as Diego Godin, Martin Cáceres, and Jose Giménez form a back line that even the most talented teams will have trouble scoring against. The defense is this small South American country’s strength, and they should be able to make it difficult for opponents to put the ball in the net.

While Uruguay’s strength is in its experience, they also have a rising star playing in their midfield. Arsenal’s Lucas Torreira is one of the game’s biggest young talents at only 23 years of age, and I expect him to come out on the international stage in this tournament.

Finally, up front, it would be silly not to mention Uruguay’s experience and goal-scoring ability. Luis Suárez and Edinson Cavani might be getting up there in years, but they can score goals like few other duos. Add young stars like Celta Vigo’s Maxi Gomez to the equation, and Uruguay should score enough goals to win.

Other teams might have flashier players or bigger names, but I expect Uruguay’s mix of veteran leadership and youthful talent to propel them to this year’s title.

They won’t have an easy road ahead of them, but La Celeste has more pieces to compete for a title than any other nation competing in Copa America’s 2019 edition.

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Brazil forward Neymar will miss the 2024 Copa America in the United States as he continues to recover from the serious knee injury that he suffered in October. “It’s too early,” Brazil’s team doctor Rodrigo Lasmar revealed. “There’s no point in skipping steps to recover sooner and taking unnecessary risks. Our expectation is that he will be prepared to return at the start of the 2024 season in Europe, which is August.”

Neymar tore the cruciate ligament and meniscus in his left knee during his country’s 2-0 loss to Uruguay in their World Cup qualifier on October 18. He underwent surgery two weeks later. This injury came just two months after he arrived at Saudi Pro League club Al Hilal from Paris Saint-Germain.

The 2024 Copa America will take place from June 20 until July 14, just weeks before Neymar’s expected return from injury. The forward’s absence will be of grave concern to Brazil, given that he is the nation’s all-time top scorer with 79 goals in 129 appearances. Brazil find themselves in Group D, alongside Colombia, Paraguay, and the winner of the playoff between Costa Rica and Honduras.

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CONMEBOL confirmed on Friday that the United States is set to host the 2024 edition of the Copa America. This comes after an agreement was reached between the South American football federation and CONCACAF, of which the United States is a member.

The upcoming tournament will also adopt a 16-team format; six of which are set to be teams from the CONCACAF. This will see teams from North and Central America as well as the Caribbean compete to qualify for the tournament alongside 10 of their South American contemporaries.

On the women’s front, the 2024 CONCACAF W Gold Cup. will consist of four teams from COMNEBOL. This tournament with a new 12-team format will also be hosted by the United States.

The four COMNEBOL guests that will participate are those that performed best in the 2022 Women’s Copa America, namely champions Brazil, runner-up Colombia, third-placed Argentina, and fourth-placed Paraguay.

“CONMEBOL and Concacaf are united by historical and affective ties,” CONMEBOL president Alejandro Dominguez said following the announcement. “But above all, we are united by the passion, characteristic of all the Americas, for football and sports.”

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Copa America champions Argentina thumped Euro 2020 winners Italy 3-0 in a match dubbed the “Finalissima” on Wednesday night. This game is a revival of the Cup of Champions; a match between the winners of the European and South American continental football competitions.

The match marked the return of the Italian national team to Wembley Stadium in London, where they defeated England on penalties to lift the Euro 2020 trophy. The stadium was packed with 87,000 fans, a significant number of whom made the trip from Buenos Aires to support the reigning South American champions.

Lautaro Martinez and Angel Di Maria handed the Argentinians the advantage in the first half, while Paulo Dybala wrapped up the scoring with a 94th-minute goal at the death.

“It was a beautiful final, full of Argentinians. What we’ve experienced here was beautiful. We knew it was going to be an attractive game and a nice setting to be champion,” Lionel Messi stated following his team’s resounding victory.

What was a moment of pride for Argentina turned out to be an anticlimactic finale for veteran Azzurri defender Giorgio Chiellini, who was subbed off at halftime in what was his final match for the Italian national team.

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The 2020 EURO champions and 2021 Copa America winners, Italy and Argentina, respectively, will face off in a competitive match in 2022 as part of efforts from Europe’s soccer governing body UEFA and South America’s CONMEBOL to expand their cooperation.

The UEFA announced the match, reportedly referred to as “Finalissima”, on Tuesday and revealed that the event is set to take place in June next year. Further details, including the venue and exact date, remain unknown.

Italy won the 2020 EURO on penalties against England, claiming their second European Championship. Argentina, on the other hand, won their 15th Copa America title by beating their biggest rivals Brazil 1-0 in the finals. This was also the first major trophy for superstar Lionel Messi in Argentina’s jersey.

The initial agreement between the UEFA and CONMEBOL laid plans for three editions of Finalissima. According to the current schedule of European and South American continental soccer competitions, Finalissima would be played each four years.

“By reaching this agreement, UEFA and CONMEBOL express their commitment to the development of football beyond their geographical zones, as a bridge uniting people, countries, continents, and cultures,” said UEFA in a statement.

The post Italy and Argentina to Face in “Finalissima” in 2022 appeared first on SportzBonanza.

The Copa America soccer tournament, which was scheduled to take place in Colombia and Argentina this summer, has been postponed until summer 2021 due to the ongoing coronavirus outbreak.

This semi-regular competition is held as a tournament to decide the best team in South American soccer. Unfortunately, soccer fans will be forced to wait until next summer to see a new champion crowned.

President Alejandro Dominguez, the head of CONMEBOL, acknowledged that it would be impossible to have the tournament go on this year. He said, “This is an extraordinary measure for an unexpected situation and responds to the fundamental need to avoid the exponential evolution of the virus.”

Nearly all soccer leagues around the world, including the vast majority of South America and Europe’s domestic competitions, are currently on hold as the world fights to slow down the coronavirus pandemic.

The Copa America tournament joined the UEFA Euro tournament in the postponement, with the premier European soccer competition also announcing earlier in the day that the tournament would be delayed until next year.

With domestic soccer leagues still looking to finish their seasons at a later time, with the summer almost guaranteed to be used if leagues do resume, it would have been impractical to have Copa America go on this summer, which means that fans will just have to press pause on it for one year.

The post Copa America Postponed Until Summer 2021 appeared first on SportzBonanza.

Two South American superpowers met for the right to play in the Copa America Final on Tuesday night, but only one could move on.

After a game in which Argentina created more chances but simply couldn’t find the net, Brazil won the right to play for the continent’s championship after achieving a 2-0 win over Argentina in Belo Horizonte.

It was yet another disappointment for Argentina and Leo Messi in an international competition, as they have now gone since 1993 without winning a major trophy.

Brazil managed only 4 shots all night, but its hyper-efficient 50% conversion rate was enough to carry them to victory. Their first goal came at the 19th minute to give them an early 1-0 edge when Gabriel Jesus buried a perfect cross from Roberto Firmino.

Argentina had plenty of opportunities to tie up the score after Jesus’s goal. Sergio Agüero looked to have beaten Brazil goalie Alisson Becker shortly after the opener, but his header went off of the crossbar.

Becker then went on to make a stunning save to deny a perfect shot by Leo Messi on a free kick in the 66th minute.

The home side wrapped it up with a goal just five minutes later by Firmino. They didn’t play their best match, but their fortune combined with Argentina’s bad shooting night was enough to get the job done.

Now, they’ll advance to play either Peru or Chile in the competition’s final.

The post Brazil Defeats Argentina 2-0 in Copa America Clash of Titans appeared first on SportzBonanza.

It was easy work for the Uruguay men’s national soccer team as they took care of Ecuador with a convincing 4-0 win in the first game in Group C action at the 2019 Copa America in Brazil.

Uruguay started early and didn’t let up, scoring in just the 5th minute of the game to take a 1-0 lead with a Nicolás Lodeiro goal.

The two most well-known players on La Celeste‘s roster also got into the action before halftime, with both Edinson Cavani and Luis Suárez scoring goals.

Cavani’s goal was a brilliant bicycle kick that will surely go down as the goal of the tournament. It gave Uruguay a 2-0 lead.

Suárez then got in on the action just before halftime, beating Ecuador goalie Alexander Domínguez to put his country up 3-0.

Ecuador then scored another own goal in the second half to put the game far away at 4-0, the final result which Uruguay took three points with.

This result puts them at the top of Group C with 3 points and was a strong and convincing start for one of the favorites to win this year’s tournament. Uruguay will look to seal its berth in the knockout stage when it faces Japan later this week.

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Copa America’s Group B got off to an unexpected start on Saturday night as Colombia upset Argentina by a final score of 2-0.

Argentina, led by Leo Messi, was disjointed and unable to break through against Colombia’s rock solid defense. It’s yet another disappointment for the Argentinian National Team after a disappointing Round of 16 exit at last summer’s World Cup.

Despite having superstars such as Messi, Sergio Agüero, and Ángel Di Maria on its offense, Argentina couldn’t muster a goal despite 13 shots on the night.

Colombia, on the other hand, played smart team soccer and kept the Albiceleste from finding open space. They were knotted at 0-0 at the break, but were able to push through and find the net twice in the second half.

Colombia’s first goal came in the 71st minute when substitute winger Roger Martínez beat Franco Armani with an unstoppable right-footed strike.

The Cafeteros assured their victory when striker Duván Zapata, who had recently come on to replace star striker Radmael Falcao, buried home a Jefferson Lerma cross to give Colombia a 2-0 lead in the 86th minute, assuring a crucial victory.

Colombia is now in control of Group B and will look to seal up their berth in the knockout stage of the competition when they play Qatar in São Paulo on Wednesday.

For Argentina, they now must regroup and not allow their surprising first defeat prevent them from moving on to the next round.

The post Colombia Upsets Argentina 2-0 in Copa America Opener appeared first on SportzBonanza.

One of the most anticipated events of this summer in the sports world is the Copa América, which kicks off next weekend on June 14.

This competition puts South America’s top national teams against one another in order to crown a champion of the CONMEBOL field of teams. Outside of Europe, South America is undoubtedly the strongest soccer continent on earth.

Many teams will compete to claim the crown as the winners of the Copa America, including Argentina, Brazil, and the reigning champions, Chile. However, if we had to pick a favorite for this year’s competition, we would have to go with Uruguay.

Uruguay is, believe it or not, the national team which has won the most Copa Americas in the competition’s history. The winners of 15 Copa Americas, however, haven’t taken home the trophy since 2011 after Chile’s recent dominance.

This year, we expect the Sky Blues to claim another title. Here’s why.

Uruguay is a veteran team that has tons of experience in competitions such as the World Cup and this tournament. While other countries have stars like Leo Messi (Argentina) and James Rodríguez (Colombia), Uruguay’s team is a solid bunch that has played in tons of important games together.

Veteran defenders such as Diego Godin, Martin Cáceres, and Jose Giménez form a back line that even the most talented teams will have trouble scoring against. The defense is this small South American country’s strength, and they should be able to make it difficult for opponents to put the ball in the net.

While Uruguay’s strength is in its experience, they also have a rising star playing in their midfield. Arsenal’s Lucas Torreira is one of the game’s biggest young talents at only 23 years of age, and I expect him to come out on the international stage in this tournament.

Finally, up front, it would be silly not to mention Uruguay’s experience and goal-scoring ability. Luis Suárez and Edinson Cavani might be getting up there in years, but they can score goals like few other duos. Add young stars like Celta Vigo’s Maxi Gomez to the equation, and Uruguay should score enough goals to win.

Other teams might have flashier players or bigger names, but I expect Uruguay’s mix of veteran leadership and youthful talent to propel them to this year’s title.

They won’t have an easy road ahead of them, but La Celeste has more pieces to compete for a title than any other nation competing in Copa America’s 2019 edition.

The post Uruguay is the Favorite to Win This Year’s Copa América. Here’s Why appeared first on SportzBonanza.