Sergio Batista has agreed to step down as Argentina football coach following their premature knock out in the Copa America.

After managing the team for just a year, Batista, 48, accepted the decision made by the Argentina Football Association (AFA) to “rescind” his contract. Batista was initially contracted to remain in his post until the end of the Brazil World Cup qualifiers in 2014.

As a coach Batista has come under great scrutiny for an unsuccessful season, in particular by his predecessor, Diego Maradona.

The national team’s last major trophy was the 1993 Copa America. Despite beating Costa Rica 3-0, losing to Uruguay by 6 penalties to 5 in the final eight provoked a renewed incentive for the AFA to take action.

AFA spokesman Ernesto Cherquis Biao said: “In a friendly phone call to the president of the AFA, Mr Sergio Batista put his future as head of the club up for consideration by the Executive Committee and the AFA.” Biao stressed: “Batista wasn’t sacked.”

Although the AFA have stressed that “there is no rush, no urgency,” to name a new coach, local media have reported favourites to include Alejandro Sabella, current manager of Al-Jazira in the United Arab Emirates, and Paraguay coach Gerardo Martino.

Uruguay beat Paraguay 3-0 in the final of the Copa América yesterday, with one goal from Forlán and two from Suarez. Uruguay won the tournament for the 15^th time and therefore beat Argentina in number of titles.

The team of Oscar Washington Tabárez was leading the game from minute one, with Paraguay surprisingly reaching the final without winning a single match. The game ended without extensions or penalties.

For more background information concerning the two finalists and their performance during the Copa América follow this link.

The Copa America 2011 is coming to a climax. This Sunday, Uruguay and Paraguay fans will flock to River Plate’s Estadio Monumental in the hope of seeing their country crowned champions. Uruguay come into the final with a fine pedigree in the tournament – a win would see them pull away from Argentina and become the most successful ever Copa America team, with 15 triumphs. This, their 21st final and their first since 1999, represents a chance at their first trophy in 16 years. On the other hand, Paraguay are far from the competition’s most prolific side. They have competed in only one previous final, winning the Copa versus Chile in 1979. It’s certainly not the showpiece that most expected, but is set to be a carnival atmosphere and a closely fought game.

Paraguay have reached the final without winning a match. A very late goal from Brazil and two very late strikes from Venezuela denied them wins in the group stage, where they played far more free-flowing attacking football and finished as the tournament’s second-highest scoring team. Once the knock-out rounds began, La Albirroja reverted to their characteristic defensive style. They needed penalties to progress from the quarter and semi-finals after some less than entertaining 0-0 draws, but won plaudits for their incredibly disciplined defensive displays.

Uruguay’s route to the final was, conversely, rather dull during the group stage and truly came to life afterwards. After two laboured draws versus Peru and Chile and a victory over an under-strength Mexico, their quarter final versus Argentina was perhaps the most exciting game of the tournament so far. In the Clasico Rioplatense they progressed past the hosts on penalties after a thrilling and eventful 1-1 draw. Then, in their semi-final they truly flexed their muscles, beating Peru 2-0 with both goals from the prolific Luis Suarez. The Liverpool striker, nicknamed El Pistolero, has been one of the stars of the tournament and currently sits joint-top of the goal scoring charts. However, perhaps most crucial to Uruguay’s winning run has been the form of their defence, in particular Alvaro Pereira, the captain Diego Lugano and goalkeeper Fernando Muslera.

It’s fair to say that these are two sides with a reputation for pragmatism and generally conservative tactics. The Uruguayans tend to first ensure that they are controlling the game and only then allow themselves to commit bodies forward. However, when they do attack, in Suarez and Diego Forlan they have one of the most feared forward partnerships in the world. There much admired manager, Oscar Washington Tabarez, combines great tactical awareness and flexibility with an impressive ability to inspire the best out of his players: toughness; aggression; determination and discipline, all those qualities that make up the Uruguayan notion of la garra. Above all, La Celeste are well-drilled and organised, a quality which can make them an immovable object when defending and an unstoppable force when on the attack.

Their opponents are quite a different prospect, mainly in that their game is even more focussed on defence. This stereotypically Paraguayan approach to football has worked wonderfully in the tournament thus far, although it has been perhaps a little too reliant on the excellent form of goalkeeper Justo Villar. Furthermore, with talismanic striker Roque Santa Cruz likely to miss the final through injury, it remains to be seen if Paraguay can keep up their fine record without his creative outlet releasing some of the pressure. Much of the burden may fall on the rounded shoulders of stocky central midfielder Néstor Ortigoza, a player seemingly capable of relieving the opposition of the ball and starting an attack in one motion.

The wide pitch at River Plate’s Estadio Monumental is a factor might play into the Uruguayans’ hands. They are a team capable of working possession across the ground and if they manage this on Sunday then Paraguay, who have already played two 120 minute matches in the last week, will tire. Patience will be key, as the longer Uruguay can keep the ball the more likely Paraguay are to expose any chink in their armour. Conversely, Paraguay need to make sure they retain possession so they can avoid chasing Uruguayan shadows for the entire game. Their focus will be on protecting the ball, and rather than a gung-ho attacking approach they will likely only commit men forward on the break.

Although all signs point to a tense, nervy affair, cup finals are notoriously unpredictable. The form-book suggests a closely fought Uruguay victory, but throughout the tournament Paraguay have shown that they are experts in defying the odds. Furthermore, the stellar form shown by both sides’ goalkeepers over the past three weeks could tip the balance either way, and in true glitzy South American fashion the game could just hinge on one moment of individual brilliance. Both teams have proved that they have players capable of providing these. In football, especially South American football, nothing is ever certain. There is only one thing that you can expect from this game for sure, a fiesta.

After the weak 0-0 in extra time, Paraguay defeated Venezuela 5-3 in a penalty shoot-out and qualified for the final next Sunday against Uruguay. For the first time in the 95 year history of the Copa América, a team qualified for the final without winning a match.

Argentina’s hopes of winning the Copa América on home soil were dashed when they were beaten 5-4 in a penalty shoot-out on Saturday night by Uruguay, who now advance to a semi-final meeting with Perú, and stand poised to take their 15th title, one more than Argentina.

Fernando Muslera in goal was the Uruguayan hero, saving a weak spot-kick from Carlos Tévez, after having kept Argentina at bay during the regular match which finished 1-1 after extra-time in a pulsating encounter in Santa Fe’s Estadio Brigadier Estanislao López.

Having underachieved in their opening group games which were drawn against Bolivia and Colombia, coach Sergio Batista opted to continue with the starting eleven that shone against Costa Rica in Córdoba, meaning  that Pablo Zabaleta, Fernando Gago, Ángel Di María and Sergio Agüero retained their places in place of Marcos Rojo, Esteban Cambiasso, Ezequiel Lavezzi and Tévez respectively.

The excitement started right from the off, with Uruguayan midfielder, Diego Pérez  lucky to remain on the field after a bad challenge just three minutes into the game, receiving instead just a yellow card from the referee.

Pérez capitalised on his good fortune just two minutes later to open the scoring for Uruguay – his first ever goal for his country in over 60 internationals – poking home after Sergio Romero in the Argentine goal failed to hold Martín Caceres’ header from a Diego Forlán free-kick.

Gonzalo Higuaín levelled for Argentina on 17 minutes with a glancing header from a finely weighted Lionel Messi cross, and when Pérez received his marching orders after getting a second yellow card for a foul on Gago six minutes before half-time, Batista’s men were in the ascendancy.

The second-half saw wave after wave of Argentine attacks as Javier Pastore, on as a second-half substitute for Di María, and Messi probed the Uruguayan defence trying to find an opening. However, the Uruguayans, ably marshalled by their inspirational captain, Diego Lugano held firm against the Argentines, displaying the garra that had got them to the World Cup semi-final twelve months ago. On the rare occasions that Argentina’s attackers did get through, Muslera was equal to the challenge, saving smartly from Higuaín and Messi.

Not that Uruguay were without chances of their own. Forlán, exploiting the gap in the centre of the Argentine defence between Nicolás Burdisso and Gabriel Milito looked well set to score until his shot was smothered by Romero.

Late in the second-half Batista introduced Carlos Tévez to replace the industrious Sergio Agüero up front, but the Manchester City striker’s most telling contribution was a free-kick just on the stroke of full-time which was turned over the crossbar by Muslera after taking a deflection from the Uruguayan defensive wall.

With the clock ticking down, Argentina’s frustration at failing to break the deadlock became increasingly evident and resulted in themselves being a man down as their captain, Javier Mascherano, received a second yellow card as he clattered into Luis Suárez from behind with three minutes to go.

With player parity restored, extra-time was a more end-to-end affair as Suárez was prominent in Uruguay’s best attacking moves, whilst Higuaín hit the near post for Argentina. After taking the captain’s armband from the departed Mascherano, arguably the best opportunity to break the deadlock fell to Messi in the final minute of extra-time.

Having jinked his way through the Uruguayan defence, he had only to lift the ball over the onrushing Muslera, as he had done dozens of times before for Barcelona, but instead hit a tired shot along the ground into the arms of the grateful keeper. Messi slumped to the ground in dejection, lying prostrate in the knowledge that Argentina’s hopes had probably disappeared with that chance.

In the post-match press conference, coach Sergio Batista was unrepentant saying: “I will carry on… I don’t call this failure…We have to continue working for the most important thing which is getting to the World Cup.”

He added: “In the first two matches we didn’t play the way we wanted, in the third we played well and today we could have won it in the first half which was our aim. Then we lost some composure when it was 10 against 10.”

The next challenge for Argentina is the 2014 World Cup in neighbouring Brazil for which the qualification series begins later this year. Argentina have the basis of a competitive side with the right blend of youth and experience, and they seem to have solved the defensive frailties that bedevilled them in South Africa – after all they conceded just two goals in four matches.

The 4-3-3 system employed by Batista does appear to suit the Argentines, as he tries to emulate the success of Barcelona in getting the best out of Messi. However, as this tournament has shown, without a world-class playmaker in the mould of Andrés Iniesta or Xavi, Argentina have struggled to penetrate top international defences.

If Batista is to be successful then he needs to find a player who can play in the enganche role linking the midfield with the attack who can produce the killer pass and bring Messi and the other forwards into the game more. It is no secret that Messi’s best performances in the albiceleste shirt have come when Juan Román Riquelme was playing in that role, particularly at the 2007 Copa América.

Whilst just a decade ago any one of half a dozen candidates such as Ariel Ortega, Marcelo Gallardo, Pablo Aimar and Andrés D’Alessandro in addition to Riquelme could have fulfilled the role, now they are very thin on the ground. Most hope now rests on the shoulders of Javier Pastore, who played a cameo role in this Copa América. If Argentina are to finally fulfil their undoubted potential, a lot will rest on him stepping up to the plate.

Host of the Copa América Argentina lost to Uruguay five to four in a penalty shot out yesterday evening. With Carlos Tavez failing to convert from the spot, Argentina is out of the Copa America 2011.

Uruguay will be up against Peru in the semi-final next Tuesday, 19 July 2011.

Today Argentina kick off their campaign to become Copa América champions  for the first time since 1993 against Bolivia in La Plata. It will also mark the coming home of the tournament, known until 1975 as the South American Championship,  to Argentina 95 years after the inaugural competition was held in Buenos Aires. Then just four teams took part in games played in a single venue, this year’s Copa will see 12 sides battle it out in cities across the north of Argentina;  Jujuy, Salta, San Juan, Córdoba, Santa Fe and Mendoza as well as La Plata, before the final to be held in the Estadio Monumental in Buenos Aires on 24 July.

The Copa América has an illustrious history, being the oldest continuously played for international football tournament, in which Argentina has played an integral part, winning the competition a joint-record 12 times along with Uruguay.

Origins

In 1916, to celebrate 100 years of Argentine independence, the Argentine Football Association (AFA) with the support of the Argentinian Ministry of Foreign Relations, held a tournament that was later to be considered the first South American Championship. Aside from Argentina, the other countries invited were neighbours Brazil, Uruguay and Chile. On 2 July, Uruguay beat Chile 4-0 in the tournaments inaugural match played in the Gimnasia y Esgrima stadium in Buenos Aires, setting them on their way to what would ultimate competition victory.

However, such was the impression made by the tournament that the Uruguayan football administrator, Héctor Rivadavia Gómez, who had been agitating for closer continental ties for several years, was moved, along with the help of his counterparts from Brazil, Argentina and Chile to found the South American Football Federation, known by its Spanish acronym CONMEBOL, who later at its first congress gave the tournament official status as the first South American Championship.

A year later the first CONMEBOL staged South American Championship was held in Montevideo and was again won by Uruguay. This time, the teams were playing for the Copa América, a handsome trophy costing 3,000 French Francs which remains in use to this day.

Rioplatense rivalry

The tournament in the 1920s was dominated by the two countries who would be at the forefront of not just South American, but world football for the next decade, Uruguay and Argentina.

In 1921 Argentina finally won the competition as hosts for the second time, winning all three of their games without conceding a goal. Much of the credit for this went their outstanding goalkeeper Américo Tesoriere, and top scorer, Newell’s Old Boys striker Julio Libonatti, who five years later would become the first Argentine to be transferred to Europe when he signed for Torino in Italy. After their final match against Uruguay, the players were joyously carried for several miles by fans from the Sportivo Barracas stadium to the Plaza de Mayo in the heart of Buenos Aires.

Argentina’s next victory in 1925, again as hosts, had a more hollow ring to it as only Paraguay and Brazil joined them in the tournament, with Chile and Uruguay – the newly crowned Olympic Champions – opting out (although this may have been as a result of the turbulent ‘friendly’ matches played the year before between Argentina and Uruguay which soured footballing relations between the two countries).

Each side played each other twice and a 2-2 draw with Brazil was enough to the clinch the cup. Argentina’s star was top-scorer, Manuel Seoane who was rather fortunate to be playing in the competition at all. He was a player with Independiente who at the time were playing in a breakaway league not affiliated to the Argentine FA (AFA) and therefore CONMEBOL, making him ineligible for selection. However, whilst serving a one year suspension in that league, he was loaned to minnows El Porvenir, who did play in the AFA’s league making him eligible after all.

With league splits behind it, Argentina were able to field a full strength team at the 1927 championship in Perú, which  had the added bonus of qualification for the 1928 Olympic Games for the top two teams. They proceeded to dominate the tournament, thrashing Bolivia 7-1 and Perú 5-1, and seeing off reigning champions Uruguay 3-2 to win their third title, with starring roles for Seoane, Tesoriere and Ludovico Bidoglio.

In fact the most difficult part of the tournament for the Argentines was actually getting to Perú. They left by train from Mendoza, crossing the Andes before catching a boat from the Chilean port of Valparaiso to Callao and then making their way to Lima.

Uruguay emerged top dogs at the 1928 Olympics beating Argentina in the final, but la albiceleste gained their revenge the following year when the competition came back to Buenos Aires. After beating Perú and Paraguay, they sealed their fourth cup by beating Uruguay 2-0 in front of 60,000 fans in San Lorenzo’s Gasómetro stadium.

However, thanks to the haemorrhaging of its top players like Luis Monti, Raimundo Orsi and Enrique Guaita to the riches of Italy following the 1930 World Cup, it would be a further eight years before Argentina triumphed again in the South American Championship.

Played once more in Buenos Aires, including matches played under new-fangled floodlights, Argentina found themselves tied at the top of the table with Brazil after each team had played each other, forcing a play-off match between the two to decide the cup. After drawing 0-0 in normal time, the 17-year-old Vicente de la Mata became Argentine’s hero scoring twice to secure the trophy.

Golden Age

With the return of the Italian migrants and Argentine domestic football booming following the introduction of professionalism, Argentina’s national team reached its apogee in the 1940s under the stewardship of Guillermo Stábile, winning the competition in 1941, 1945, 1946 and 1947. Playing a swift passing game known as ‘la nuestra’, the team drew heavily on the famed River Plate club side dubbed ‘la máquina’ for it’s domination of the Argentine league during the same period. They included the biggest stars of the era; Juan Manuel Moreno, Adolfo Pedenera, Juan Carlos Muñoz, Félix Loustau and Ángel Labruna.

With no meaningful football being played elsewhere as Europe and Asia were consumed by total war, the South American Championship assumed much greater significance as the de facto World Cup, the winners being able to plausibly claim to be the best in the world.

The 1941 triumph in Santiago was memorable for a five-goal salvo by Tigre striker, Juan Marvezzi against hapless Ecuador.

Victory in 1945 was arguably even more impressive given the quality of the opposition players on show such as Obdulio Varela of Uruguay and the Brazilians; Zizinho, Ademir and Domingos da Guia. Nonetheless, none were able to tame six-goal joint top scorer Norberto Méndez who was ably assisted by the likes of Mario Boyé, René Pontoni and Rinaldo Martino as they thrashed Ecuador 4-0, Perú 4-2 and Colombia 9-1 en route to the title.

Home advantage again proved crucial in 1946 as Argentina cruised past all comers, winning all five games, scoring 17 goals and conceding just three, equalling Uruguay’s record of eight titles in the process.

Argentina’s third consecutive triumph in Ecuador saw the emergence of one of the greatest Argentine’s ever to play the game – Alfredo Di Stéfano. Debuting in the 7-0 thrashing of Bolivia, the young River Plate forward would go on to score six goals. Sadly, his talents would be lost to the Argentine cause as he went first to Millonarios de Bogotá following the 1948 players’ strike in Argentina, and then to Real Madrid where he earned near immortality, taking Spanish citizenship and playing for Spain instead.

Return to the Mainstream

The 1947 triumph would be Argentina’s last participation in the South American Championship for eight years. After the 1948 players’ strike many of the country’s top players followed Di Stéfano’s  example and went to Colombia, depriving the national team of a generation of talent.

Keen to preserve notions of Argentine superiority, the regime of Juan Perón which permeated all levels of the game in Argentina, withdrew the national team from international  competition (including the 1950 World Cup in neighbouring Brazil) lest they were beaten.

Fielding Independiente’s forward line of Ricardo Bonelli, Carlos José Cecconato , Osvaldo Cruz, Ernesto Grillo and Rodolfo MIcheli en bloc, Argentina made a winning return in 1955, the highlight of which was a 6-1 hammering of 1950 World Champions, Uruguay.

In Lima in 1957 Argentina’s team again reached the heights of the 1940s. Boasting a 20-year-old forward line of Humberto Maschio, Antonio Angelillo and Omar Sívori – nicknamed ‘los ángeles con caras sucias’ – ‘The Angels with Dirty Faces’ after the popular Hollywood movie of the time, Argentina simply swept aside all before them, winning the cup with a game to spare having already dispatched Colombia 8-2, Ecuador 3-0, Uruguay 4-0, Chile 6-2 and Brazil 3-0.

Hopes were high that Argentina would replicate their success at the 1958 World Cup in Sweden, but these were dashed when Maschio, Angelillo and Sívori all transferred to Italy, Argentina ultimately being humbled by Czechoslovakia.

They regained a measure of self-respect at the 1959 tournament  by overshadowing a Brazil side containing World Cup winners Pelé, Garrincha, Didi, Nilton Santos, Djalma Santos and Mario Zagallo to win the cup again on home soil, the last time for more than three decades.

Doldrums

The tournament fell into neglect during the 1960s and 70s only being held sporadically and on a home and away basis, as countries baulked at the costs of staging the competition in straightened times.

On the pitch Argentina were in a period of transition, using the championship as trials for more important World Cup campaigns rather than fielding their strongest available side and the team failed to prosper as lesser lights like Perú and Paraguay took the laurels.

Homesickness

In 1987 CONMEBOL tried to reinvigorate the tournament, by now officially known as the Copa América, by reverting to a single fixed venue to be rotated around the ten member nations every two years. They started with the 1987 competition in Argentina, played in Buenos Aires, Rosario and Córdoba.

As reigning World Champions, captained by the incomparable Diego Maradona, Argentina were red hot favourites on home turf. However, they looked lethargic, especially Maradona who was suffering from flu, and went out with barely a whimper to Uruguay in the semi-final.

Back-to-back wins

After Argentina had earned few friends in brawling their way to the 1990 World Cup Final, the task of restoring Argentina’s reputation fell to new coach, Alfio ‘Coco’ Basile at the 1991 Copa in Chile.

With Maradona unavailable following a drugs ban, Basile fielded a team of young unheralded  players ably led by veteran defender, Oscar Ruggeri. However they soon gelled, with striker Gabriel Batistuta showing himself to be a superstar in the making scoring six goals, finishing top of Group A before beating Brazil 3-2 in a bruising final round encounter, which saw two players from each side sent off. They drew 0-0 with the hosts, and a 2-1 victory over Colombia was enough to give them their first Copa victory in 32 years.

On the back of a long unbeaten run, Argentina retained the title in Ecuador two years later as the tournament expanded to include two invited teams from North and Central America. Hero of the hour for Argentina this time was goalkeeper Sergio Goycochea who reprised his penalty saving heroics of the 1990 World Cup against Brazil in the quarter-final and Colombia in the semi-final. In the final it was again Batistuta who made the difference, scoring an 85^th minute winner to break Mexican hearts.

With the Copa América playing second fiddle to the concurrent marathon World Cup qualifying campaigns which began in the mid-1990s, Argentina again reverted to fielding experimental teams in the Copa with predictably poor results, failing to progress past the quarter-finals between 1995 and 2001 (when they withdrew for security reasons).

Brazilian heartbreak

In a bid to restore the relevancy of the Copa América CONMEBOL began the transition of the competition into a four yearly event in the year immediately following the World Cup.

The first tournament during this transition was in Perú in 2004, when under Marcelo Bielsa, Argentina thrilled their way to the final with exciting young talent like Javier Saviola, Andrés D’Alessandro and Carlos Tévez, as they scored 15 goals. In the decider they led Brazil 2-1 with just seconds to go on the clock, when Adriano scored a dramatic late equalizer. Demoralized, Argentina lost the resultant penalty shoot-out.

Three years later in Venezuela, Argentina once more blitzed their way to the final as 20-year-old Barcelona sensation, Lionel Messi, staged a one-man goal of the tournament competition. Well supported by Javier Mascherano, Maxi Rodríguez and Tévez amongst others, Argentina looked set to go all the way, but were once more thwarted by their nemesis Brazil in the final. An early own goal by Roberto Ayala set the scene as Brazil romped to a 3-0 win.   

History beckons Sergio Batista’s men, if Messi and Co can all find form together then Argentina can pull ahead of Uruguay in terms of all-time Copa victories. Over the next three weeks all will become clear.

Mexico expelled eight players from their Copa America squad due to a scandal involving prostitutes yesterday. The players were visited by four women on at least two occasions between 24^th Friday 2011 and Sunday morning 26^th June 2011.

“The players confessed and returned to their clubs,” said Hector Gonzalez Iñárritu, director of the national team.”The rules were broken, the code of discipline was broken and I have to act.”

The expelled players are Israel Jiménez, Néstor Vidrio, David Cabrera, Jorge Hernandez, Jonathan dos Santos, Marco Fabián, Javier Cortes and Nestor Calderon. They are ineligible to play in the team for six months and will also be fined $50,000 for violation of internal rules.

To replace these eight players, coach Luis Fernando Tena decided to call Kristian Alvarez, Antonio Gallardo, Edgar Pacheco, Alan Pulido, Emilio Orrantia, Ulises Davila, Diego de Buen and Oswaldo Alanis.

The Mexican national team will play their first game in the Copa America on 4^th July 2011 against Chile, followed by Peru and Uruguay in Group C.

Mariano Andujar, goalkeeper of the Argentine football team Estudiantes from La Plata, expressed his joy after winning the 2009 Copa Libertadores. “Winning at this stage is such a unique thrill.”

Having beaten the Brazilian club Cruzeiro 2-1, this is the Estudiantes’ sixth huge international victory. Their last finals appearance in the Copa Libertadores was 38 years ago.

The final of the Copa Libertadores contains two legs; one match at home and one away. The first leg, played at the Estudiantes’ home stadium in La Plata on 8th July, resulted in a scoreless tie.

A week later, the teams faced each other again at the Estadio Mineirão in Belo Horizonte, Brazil. The Cruzeiros, favoured to win with nine victories throughout the tournament, were ready to impress their fans at home with a victory against the Estudiantes, but goals by Fernández and Boselli on the Argentine side proved them wrong.

Andujar reported to Olé what he felt just seconds after the team was made champion of the Americas: “I still do not think we realise what happened here. To win in this historic stadium, to hold this Cup.” He looked to the sky and reached out to his family. “My wife, my daughters, my father, who must be crying over there…”

Andujar, starting goalkeeper for the Argentine national team, expressed his attachment to the Estudiantes after playing with them throughout the tournament.

“I leave very happy. But it will be a bye, nothing more. I will go back, obviously … I’ve learned to like this club, to identify with its colors. This group has entered into history.”