2023-12-08 16:32:11
Javier Zanetti, Ronaldinho, Roque Santa Cruz… The stars were out on stage for the draw for the Copa America 2024. But they ultimately served to fill a ceremony which experienced a big moment of hesitation during the draw of the last hat , as TyC Sports tells us.
While the 2024 Copa takes place under a new format with 16 representatives including six from the Concacaf zone, representing the nations of Central America, the composition of the groups presented a real headache for the organizers. They wanted there to be no more than three teams from Conmebol (South America) and no more than two from Concacaf (Central and North America) per group.
A condition respected down to the last hat. When Carlos Fernandez, head of Concacaf, drew Bolivia for Group B, we acted as if nothing had happened. But it was impossible since the country had to go into group C, the only one to already have its quota of selections from North and Central America, since there were only two countries from this same region of the world left to draw…
“A difficult group” for Argentina
The error therefore continued for Jamaica placed in group D, then for the last Concacaf qualifier, still unknown because from the play-offs, placed in group C. An impossible draw given the conditions imposed. The black screen in the main room in Miami then went off. The organizers attempted a first change between Bolivia and the Concacaf 6 play-off… instead of Jamaica.
Everything finally returned to normal when the screens came back on with the correct composition of the groups, without error.
In the end, Argentina will face Chile in the first round, who beat them twice on penalties in the final of the competition in 2015 and 2016. The Argentines, in group A, will also face Peru and either Canada, or Trinidad and Tobago, who will compete in play-offs in March. “It’s a difficult group,” commented Albiceleste coach Lionel Scaloni, who maintains the mystery over his future at the head of the selection.
Chance avoided a shock in the first round, Marcelo Bielsa’s Uruguay, the scarecrow of hat 2, ultimately crossing paths with neither Argentina nor Brazil in the pools. In Group D, Carlo Ancelotti’s Brazil will find Colombia, Paraguay and either Costa Rica or Honduras, another play-off scheduled for March in Texas.
Uruguay will face the United States, Panama and Bolivia in Group C. Mexico, Ecuador, Venezuela and Jamaica make up Group B.
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