Well, we’re going to wrap up this blog now. That’s a really difficult group for USA. Group C looks competitive, but Chile and Argentina should qualify easily from Group C, and Group B looks like Brazil plus one more.
Thanks for reading. Goodnight.
Well, there we go. Group A appears to be the toughest by far, while Brazil have a pretty straightforward route to the knockout stages. What will Klinsmann say?
Everyone has left the stage. That concludes the draw.
The Copa América Centenario 2016 draw in full
Group A
USA, Colombia, Costa Rica, Paraguay
Group B
Brazil, Ecuador, Haiti, Peru
Group C
Mexico, Uruguay, Jamaica, Venezuela
Group D
Argentina, Chile, Panama, Bolivia
Chile are next, and they go into group D. Ooh, that’s a good tie: Argentina v Chile. Those two should have enough to go through from that group, though. Ecuador up next, and they’re in group B, with Brazil, Peru and Haiti.
Therefore, Uruguay are matched with Mexico, Jamaica and Venezuela in group C.
Now the final Conmebol teams. And Colombia go into group A! Gasps around the auditorium! USA are going to have a hard time in this competition.
The draw so far
Group A
USA, Costa Rica, Paraguay
Group B
Brazil, Haiti, Peru
Group C
Mexico, Jamaica, Venezuela
Group D
Argentina, Panama, Bolivia
Now Jamaica, and they’ll play in group C, with Mexico and Venezuela. Ergo, Costa Rica go into group A, with USA and Paraguay. I reckon that’s the two toughest teams from each pot for Klinsmann’s team.
Now the Concacaf teams. Panama are drawn first, and they’re drawn in group D, alongside Argentina and Bolivia. Haiti are next up, and they go into group B, with Brazil and Peru.
The draw so far
Group A
USA, Paraguay
Group B
Brazil, Peru
Group C
Mexico, Venezuela
Group D
Argentina, Bolivia
To complete Pot 4, Venezuela go in with Mexico, which means Paraguay are drawn with USA. That’s a tough match for the hosts.
OK, now we move on to Pot 4, drawn by Valderrama, who’s enjoying the limelight. Bolivia out first, and they’re drawn in group D, alongside Argentina. Tough start for the Bolivians! Now Peru, and they’ll play with Brazil.
We’re just going through the motions here to reaffirm what we already knew. As already established, Brazil are in position B1, Mexico in C1, and Argentina in D1.
USA are out of the hat first. An early statement of intent! Of course, we knew they would be in position A1, so this is merely confirmation.
The draw begins
We’re ready to go. All four drawmasters are in position.
More commercials! The tension is building.
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OK, to recap. Four pots of four teams:
Pot 1
USA, Brazil, Mexico, Argentina
Pot 2
Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, Uruguay
Pot 3
Costa Rica, Jamaica, Panama, Haiti
Pot 4
Paraguay, Peru, Bolivia, Venezuela
Pot 5 through 8 contains the groups for the tournament, which is just a way of placing the teams, really. We’re almost ready.
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Jorge Campos, Mexico’s 5ft 7in goalkeeper, and occasional striker, completes our set. Three of our superstar draw team have MLS experience, of course.
Now time for our next guest. Mainka talks of this player’s “precise and unimaginable passes, like a true midfield maestro.” It’s Carlos Valderrama! This is so cool. He’s dressed nattily, in a blue jacket and sneakers. He’s a true star, one of my heroes, and what a pass this is:
Now Mario Kempes! El Matador, Argentinian legend, and the leading goalscorer of the 1978 World Cup.
OK, this looks promising. The balls and pots are on stage, and Jurgen Mainka, Concacaf’s marketing man, is is introducing our celebrity drawers: Alexi Lalas is first out.
“The United States is a soccer nation,” says Lalas, to whoops and hollers. “And hopefully it’s going to mean a return of the men’s World Cup back to the United States.” Cue much applause.
A short video showing each of the 10 host cities. The final, remember, is at MetLife Stadium in New Jersey on 26 June.
Here’s a picture from the theater. It gives a flavor.
Rest assured, you’re not missing any of the draw. Who knows when that might take place. Five minutes? Ten minutes? A weel next Tuesday?
Now Yandel! Somos Uno – We Are One – is a hot track with a message. Here’s the man himself: “The world needs to continue hearing positive messages, of optimism, so that they never forget that in unity is where strength lies. I wanted to use my voice, in this occasion, to highlight this message.”
Sure. Listen here!
A distinctly un-thrilling photograph from our official administrators:
Let's GO! #CopaDraw #Copa100 pic.twitter.com/4fYOgrPiI2
— Copa América 2016 (@CA2016) February 22, 2016
Time for commercials. We’ll take a break.
A short video to celebrate 100 years of Copa America. Names to conjure with! Maradona, Pele, Carlos Valderrama, Enzo Francescoli, Teofillo Cubillas, Marcelo Salas – and many, many more. Boy, South America produces some great footballers, doesn’t it?
Words from our hosts: “Prestigious … highly anticipated … historic … record-setting … guaranteed to unite the Americas …” Etc etc etc.
Now shots of the national team coaches, sitting in the front row: Tito Martino, Dunga and Jurgen Klinsmann are all here, as is Jamaica’s Winfried Shafer. Oscar Tabarez has stayed home, however.
And now two-time Grammy nominee Diego Torres is up, singing his monster song Iguales, backed by 20 gospel singers in white. It’s very loud. (Please remember, this is a made-for-TV event.) But he’s a compelling performer!
Four stars.
And we're off!
“This is going to be historic!” booms the MC. Sixteen individuals, holding each participating nation’s flag, are welcomed to the stage, to loud applause. It’s a party!
The Hammerstein Ballroom holds about 2,200 people, and it’s pretty much full. To be sure, this is a big deal in South and Central America.
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We’re close. Three minutes till the start of the show, although expect plenty of fluff and puff before the main event.
Our hosts are ready, even if no one else is. USA and Venezuela represented. Taft and Monsalve work for Fox Sports and Univision Deportes respectively, who are broadcasting tonight’s draw.
Our hosts @AdrianaMonsalve and @JennyTaft are ready to open the show #CopaDraw #Copa100 pic.twitter.com/CpgCwMFa9q
— Copa América 2016 (@CA2016) February 22, 2016
An announcement! “Ladies and gentlemen, you have about 10 minutes to chat, but then we will need everyone seated. We’ll be starting in 20 minutes.” So, get your gossiping in posthaste.
For more on the history of the Copa America, my estimable colleague Scott Murray wrote this excellent piece last year. It’s excellent:
Some general admin
USA open up the tournament on Friday June 3 at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara, and Panama and Bolivia Brazil and Argentina will contest the final on Sunday June 26 at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford. Ten stadiums are being used, each with a capacity of over 50,000. (Santa Clara, Seattle, Pasadena, Glendale, Houston, Chicago, Philadelphia, East Rutherford, Foxborough and Orlando.) As you might expect, tickets are ludicrously overpriced – $300 the cheapest in some games! Why are these events so damn expensive?
Yes, it's very nice
Not bad, #CopaDraw. pic.twitter.com/HmJ1nOZQvK
— Major League Soccer (@MLS) February 22, 2016
Chile must be fairly miffed at not being a top seed, especially since they won the bloody thing last year , and ranked fifth in the world. Conmebol’s reasoning is thus: Argentina are seeded because they’re the highest ranked team; USA because they’re the hosts; and Mexico and Brazil because they’re the “most decorated nations in the last 100 years in international competitions from their respective federations.” Which is fair enough, I suppose, but surely Chile are a better team than Mexico? Let’s have a heated debate!
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It’s rather tepid here, to be honest. Lots of men in shiny suits milling about, but not much action. The stage is clear. We’re about 40 minutes till the curtain goes up. Or is it down? I forget.
Anyone got any thoughts about anything?
Jurgen Klinsmann is in the house! Here he is with Paraguay boss and former nerazzurri striker Ramon Diaz:
Getting ready for the @CA2016 draw. Great to share old Inter Milan stories with Ramon Diaz !! @Inter @ramondiaz9dt pic.twitter.com/tNT3UBVWuc
— Jürgen Klinsmann (@J_Klinsmann) February 21, 2016
We’re supposed to be kicking off at about 8pm ET, but we can assume with a reasonable degree of certainty that we won’t be starting on time. Musical performances will be delivered, however, as is customary: Puerto Rican reggaeton superstar Yandel and Argentinian cantante Diego Torres are scheduled to appear. The draw’s also being televised live in the US, on Univision Deportes and Fox Sports 2.
Who's excited for our hosts, @AdrianaMonsalve & @JennyTaft, and performers @yandeloficial & @diegotorres #CopaDraw pic.twitter.com/P9GgOkT1yT
— Copa América 2016 (@CA2016) February 21, 2016
The draw format
The four top seeds have already been assigned a group: USA will play in group A, Brazil in B, Mexico in C and Argentina in D – so tonight, we’ll be drawing the 12 other teams. Note that the four other Concacaf teams have been drawn in pot 3, so there’ll be no all-South American group. It’s forbidden, OK?
Here’s how it works. Pot four will be drawn second, so Bolivia, Paraguay, Peru and Venezuela will be the first names drawn, and will be assigned a position – A4, B4, C4 or D4. Then pot three: Costa Rica, Haiti, Jamaica and Panama go into A3, B3, C3 and C3. And the second pot will be drawn last - the highest-ranked Conmebol teams go into A2, B2, C2 or D2. Confused? Excellent.
Brazil, Chile, Costa Rica and Paraguay doesn’t perhaps constitute a group of death – this isn’t Euro 92 group 2, after all – but it’s tough enough, I suppose. By contrast, USA, Ecuador, Haiti and Bolivia would represent the opposite – a group of life? There’s a pretty clear delineation, though – the top seven are markedly classier than the remaining teams, although Costa Rica and Paraguay, in particular, are no mugs. It’d be a surprise if the top seeds, Chile, Uruguay and Colombia didn’t qualify for the knockout stage, though. Analysis!
The teams – and pots
Ordinarily, of course, the Copa America is a 12-team tournament, consisting of the 10 Conmebol federations, plus two guest invitees, usually Mexico and one other. But this year we’ve gone up to 16, to beef things up and provide some natural symmetry in the draw, meaning we’ve got six from Concacaf to go with the usual suspects. Here’s how they line up, by pot:
Pot 1
Brazil, Argentina, Mexico, USA
Pot 2
Chile, Ecuador, Colombia, Uruguay
Pot 3
Costa Rica, Haiti, Jamaica, Panama
Pot 4
Bolivia, Paraguay, Peru, Venezuela
!Hola y bienvenido!
Forget Euro 2016 for a moment: there’s another soccer tournament taking place this summer that might be even finer than Uefa’s best – and won’t force us to endure Albania v Switzerland.
On June 3, 16 teams get busy in the 2016 Copa America Centenario, a new, improved, historic tournament to celebrate 100 years of Conmebol’s premier international competition. It’s being held in the USA – the first time in history it’s gone outside South America – and anyone who’s anyone in the Americas is coming to play. Messi! Neymar! Alexis! Suarez! Wes Morgan! The official Copa America literature suggests that “fans in all 10 venues will be able to experience some of the best football ever played in the United States,” which suggests they have seen Andrea Pirlo’s performances for New York City FC.
Today they’ll be making the official tournament draw, from the famous Hammerstein Ballroom in midtown Manhattan. Balls will be plucked at about 8pm ET. Join us!
Tim will be here shortly. In the meantime here’s how the US women’s team did in their Olympic qualifier on Friday:
The reigning Olympic champions will be in Brazil this summer to defend their title after easing to victory on Friday night in the semi-finals of the Concacaf qualifying tournament with the help of a hat-trick from Alex Morgan.
The road to Rio was predictably smooth for the Americans. This is a competition that forces spectators to get their kicks not from the thrilling uncertainty that usually defines knockout football, but through the far less pulsating sense of satisfaction that comes when expectations are confirmed.
Not that it was a bold move for anyone to predict that the Olympic and World Cup champions would saunter into Sunday’s final against Canada. That match, also in Houston, will be more competitive.
Despite the inherent potential for danger in this fixture given that only the winning semifinalists reach Rio, the sole question-mark on Friday night concerned the margin of victory, not the identity of the winners.
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