On June 20, the 48th edition of the Copa América, the oldest continental soccer tournament in the world, began.
The United States will host the championship, to which Argentina and Uruguay will arrive tied with the highest number of titles achieved, 15 each, achieved throughout their participation.
In their more than 100 years of existencethe Copa América gives a lot to tell.
On the one hand there are the goals, the victories and the champions that there have been since 1916, but on the other there are those anecdotes and curious facts that show the peculiarity of one of the oldest national team tournaments in the world.
At BBC News Mundo we compile 6 of these stories that you may not have known about.
1. From the bench to the field
The Chilean Carlos Fanta was one of the most important figures in his country’s soccer as a player, coach, manager and referee.
But it was in the first Copa América in history, held in Argentina in 1916, which at that time was known as the South American Football Championship, where its multifaceted character was most evident.
Fanta arrived in Argentina as the coach of Chile, but was also assigned as one of the four referees who participated in the tournament.
In fact, he was the one who worked the most lead in three of the six games that took placeincluding the last one between Argentina and Uruguay that had to be suspended after five minutes due to the problems that occurred in the stands among the fans.
The match resumed the next day and when it ended goalless it marked Uruguay’s first title.
Fanta was not the only person with a double function in that tournament, since the Brazilian player Sydney Pullen He also had to act as a referee, taking charge of the match between Argentina and Chile.
2. Ronaldo, goals with diapers
In 1999 Ronaldo began to suffer from overweight problems.
This was revealed by the Brazilian coach at that time, Vanderlei Luxembourgyears later.
“Ronaldo was overweight and we tried to make him lose a few kilos. There wasn’t much time to achieve it. He wondered how he could lose the extra kilos,” Luxemburg said.
“The doctor gave him a medicine called Xenical, effective, but it accelerated evacuations. So, to avoid incidents he was forced to use diapers.”
The coach assured that the “Phenomenon” complained about having to play in those conditions. “But he continued to score goals, like he always has.”
Ronaldo was the top scorer of that tournament, played in Paraguay, along with his teammate Rivaldo with five goals. Brazil was champion.
3. D10S was DIE60: Maradona with 6 in 1979
Maradona, who was never able to win the trophy, debuted in the Copa América in the 1979 edition.
It was against Brazil, at the Maracaná stadium, and the peculiar thing was that instead of wearing the number 10 with which he became a legend, he did it with 6.
That same year, the coach César Luis Menotti He was also preparing the youth squad to face the Under 20 World Cup in Japan, in which Maradona played.
The format of that Copa América was key: it did not have a fixed venue and in the first phase the countries were divided into three groups, with round-trip matches to settle their qualification for the semifinals.
Menotti chose to protect the young left-hander from the start and don’t put it in every game of the Cup so as not to wear it out.
But after a defeat against Bolivia, Menotti turned to Maradona for the next match against Brazil.
They gave him shirt number 6 because it had not been used in the first meeting with the Bolivians.
The 6 did not prevent Maradona from going one of the great figures of a party which, however, Brazil won.
In the next match, again against Bolivia, Maradona had to use the same number.
After that August 8, 1979, Maradona never separated from the 10 again.
4. Albicelestes in white, light blues in red and Brazil, with the Boca shirt
The on-field rivalry between Argentines and Uruguayans has often carried over off the field.
Between 1916 and 1929, the old South American tournament had been held every year, except in 1918 and 1928.
However, due to the exchange of accusations over the 1930 World Cup final between Albicelestes and Charrúas, the competition was not held until 1935, when Peru organized an extraordinary edition in commemoration of the 400 years of the founding of Lima.
Not everything was so simple. Due to the differences between Argentines and Uruguayans, Neither of the two teams wore their traditional colors: While the Albicelestes played in white that tournament, the Celestes dressed in red for the occasion.
Two years later, in 1937, on the old Boca Juniors field, it was Brazil that played with an unusual blue and yellow jersey.
In times when the Canarinha still played in white, color that he abandoned after the Maracanazo in 1950Brazil presented itself with its usual uniform, but it was confused with the one that its rival, Chile, had taken to the field.
5. The host country that was almost eliminated due to lack of players
It also happened in the first edition of the tournament, in 1916.
It turns out that At that time, football was an amateur sport. and although the country had chosen its 11 representatives, one had to be absent at the last minute due to a work trip that could not be postponed and could not play the second game of the championship.
At that time there were no substitutions: all players had to play the entire game, and there were no yellow or red cards. For this reason, substitutes were not called.
With only 10 players, and with little left before the match against Brazil began – the first, against Chile, they had won 6 to 1 -, Argentina was on the verge of declaring itself out.
He got rid of the paper by chance.
One of the Argentine players recognized among the public that filled the stands of the GEBA stadium Jose Lagunafootballer for the Huracán club.
Called urgently, Laguna agreed to be part of the meeting and in fact it was providential for the host country since he scored the only Argentine goal.
The game ended 1 to 1.
6. The longest match in history
To define the champion of the tournament in 1919, Brazil and Uruguay had to play a final match after being tied on points in the group stage.
It was the first final played in the history of the Copa América and there is no doubt that it will forever remain the longest match of the tournament.
With the score scoreless at the end of the regulation 90 minutes, Argentine referee Juan Pedro Barbera gave way to a 30-minute extra time to settle the match.
There was no movement in either goal, so it was necessary to play another half-hour overtime.
To the relief of the fans and the players, who were wandering exhausted on the field, the Brazilian Arthur Friedenreich scored a goal two minutes after the action resumed.
The victory, achieved after 150 minutes of playmarked Brazil’s first title.
Will there be new surprises in the Copa América 2024 that starts this Thursday in the United States?
Let’s hope so.
*This article is an update of a note originally published on June 16, 2019
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