Brazil continues to dominate the Women’s Copa América, but are there signs of progress?

This piece was written by Tim Vickery for Issue 46

The 1996 Olympics was the first to include women’s football. The Brazilian authorities made it clear that they had little faith in their team, giving them only enough pennants for the group matches. So when they caused a surprise by making it out of the group, there were no pennants left. The goalkeeper had to hurriedly teach the captain an apology in English to her opposite number.

Three years later, Brazil came third in the World Cup. And in the next decade, with the emergence of Marta, they were probably the best team on the planet for a while, though they kept falling at the final hurdle. Brazil went down in the final of the Olympics of 2004 and 2008, as well as the 2007 World Cup. Could they take that one vital step?

No, they could not. That team was the product of the spontaneous appearance of a generation of heroic pioneers – spearheaded by the playmaker Marta, the midfielder Formiga and the striker Cristiane. There had been no planning, no development, next to no investment. During Brazil’s boom years, money was on the table to launch a women’s league. The Brazilian football federation (CBF) had other priorities, and the moment was lost. In a sport growing rapidly, to stand still was to fall backwards. The London Olympics – a decade ago – made it painfully apparent that Brazil had fallen behind. They have never again come close to the serious silverware. But in the last few years they have started to do something about it. A league exists, and is healthier than ever. And the national team have brought in Pia Sundhage from Sweden, with her vast experience in the women’s game both as player and coach. Sundhage’s reign is phase three, where the surprising rise and depressing fall is followed by the concerted attempt to rise again.

Her side won the Copa América, played in Colombia over the course of July, and they did so barely suffering any alarms and without conceding a single goal. But any conclusions about Brazil’s place in the global order will have to wait for next year’s World Cup in Australia and New Zealand. Because Brazil are South America’s only genuine power. The game is improving on the continent – the 2022 Copa came up with some firm evidence. But it is improving from a very low base.

There have been nine versions of the Copa América. Brazil have now won eight of them. The exception was 2006, when Argentina both hosted and won the competition. After Brazil, Argentina are the South American team with most World Cup experience. In both 2003 and 2007 they lost all their matches, conceding around 5 goals a game – as happened to Ecuador in 2015. Last time round, in France 2019, Argentina still failed to record a victory. But at least they were competitive, conceding just four goals in three matches. There have so far only been two non-Brazilian South American World Cup wins – in France last time round debutants Chile won a largely irrelevant group game against Thailand. Four years earlier, in a truly great moment, Colombia managed to beat France.

Colombia could be the great hope. With its large population and a range of urban centres, it has always looked like fertile ground for football. But there might be surprise that the women’s game has taken hold in such a socially conservative country. The explanation probably has to do with cultural ties to the USA, which have surely helped legitimise the sport. Anyway, Colombia have taken it seriously. They made an unsuccessful bid to host next year’s World Cup and were quick to set up a national league, which has been well supported, especially by those tired of the adolescent macho aggression which can set the tone of fan culture in the men’s game.

But here, too, it is a case of steps forward and backwards. Post- pandemic, the sponsors have stayed away and the league has been suspended. This led to unrest in the team camp, with some players not selected as a punishment for criticising the local FA and the team making a collective gesture of protest before their opening game.

Overall, the crowds in Armenia, Cali and Bucaramanga were disappointing. But the hosts were certainly well supported, and with lithe 17-year-old winger Linda Caicedo emerging as the star of the competition, Colombia won all of their matches to make it through to the final against Brazil, also 100%.

In front of a packed crowd in Bucaramanga, Colombia could be proud of the show they put up. Brazil won 1-0, but as Pia Sundhage confessed, it was efficient rather than beautiful. Colombia had more shots and more shots on target, but Brazil’s defence, splendidly marshalled by the captain Rafaelle, rarely looked like being breached, and at the other end Brazil could always count on flashes of talent, such as the move from striker Debinha which saw her brought down for a penalty towards the end of the first half, which she stroked confidently home.

Will this level of performance be enough when Brazil aim for glory at the World Cup? Warm-up defeats to Denmark and Sweden pose some doubts. This, though, is a much- renewed squad – Marta was injured, Formiga has retired and Cristiane has been discarded, meaning that a new generation are finding their feet. Sundhage, unsurprisingly, was happy with the defensive solidity, but is well aware that this is very much a work in progress. Under greater pressure, it will be fascinating to see next year whether coach and team are a compatible cultural match.

Sundhage is on a mission to try to stop the players diving and instead to get them working collectively as soon as they have lost possession. Even in Copa América triumph she did not seem entirely content with the defensive recomposition, and she is also working tirelessly to broaden the team’s attacking repertoire, which can be overdependent on one-against-one dribbles that, used indiscriminately, can play into the hands of more qualified opponents.

These matters will be put to the test next year in Australia and New Zealand, and also in the 2024 Paris Olympics. Colombia will also be present at both competitions, seeking to consolidate themselves as a power in the game and trusting that Linda Caicedo, who is being linked with Barcelona, can develop into one of the great stars of the sport.

Caicedo scored the only goal in perhaps the key match of the entire tournament, the semi-final against Argentina. After a demoralising opening 4-0 defeat to Brazil, Argentina rallied exceptionally well, winning all their subsequent matches up to the semi- final. The importance of this match went beyond merely meeting Brazil in the final. It would also define South America’s second place in the Olympics, and so it was probably for the best that Colombia won the day. Their side would appear to have more potential than Argentina’s, who have not developed as quickly as might have been hoped – which Brazil made abundantly clear in that early meeting. But if Argentina are a little short on genuine ability, they are beyond reproach in terms of team spirit. Being thrashed by Brazil was sobering – with as many goals conceded as in all three games of the 2019 World Cup. But they came back strongly, not least in the third-place play-off.

This was no end-of-tournament non-event. South America has three automatic places in the World Cup, so this match was decisive, and Argentina were up against Paraguay, the surprise side of the competition. Paraguay have brought in a Brazilian coach, Marcello Frigério, and his regular training camps have clearly helped improve the level of the side.

Paraguay caused a shock by finishing above Chile in their group, and then only went down 2-0 to Brazil in the semi-final – though the scoreline could have been much less flattering had Brazil taken more of their many chances. For a long period in the third- place play-off, it looked as if Paraguay would spring another surprise. But Argentina’s fighting spirit won the day, with a late equaliser followed by two more in stoppage time. Their striker Yamila Rodríguez finished the competition as top scorer. Argentina, then, have booked their place in the World Cup. Paraguay may still make their debut in Australia and New Zealand, but must first go through an intercontinental play-off.

So, too, must Chile, who grabbed the last remaining play-off slot in the match to determine fifth place, the meeting of the sides which finished the group phase in third place. Chile were one of the disappointments of the competition, but can be pleased at how things turned out in the end. They were up against Venezuela, a rising force in the South American game. With success at Under-17 level, and a much-respected Italian coach in Pamela Conti, Venezuela went to the tournament with high hopes, especially after beating Chile in a warm-up game. They opened up with two wins, but then came a reality check with a soberingly heavy defeat to Brazil. The goals then dried up, with the team too dependent on its star player, Deyna Castellanos. Second place in the group, and a place in the semis, slipped away when they went down 1-0 to the ever-resilient Argentinians, and so they had to settle for the play- off for fifth place with the Chileans. That, too, appeared to have slipped away until Castellanos hit a stoppage- time equaliser. But the time had come for Christiane Endler, Chile’s top-class keeper, to shine in the shoot-out. She saved from Castellanos, then saved another and Chile won the day. Venezuela had beaten them in warm- up, but when it really mattered, Chile’s experience – at least in the form of their goalkeeper – tipped the balance.

As for the rest, Ecuador were not far off, while Uruguay fell below expectations and Peru, without even a goal scored and 18 conceded, were extremely poor. Bolivia’s record was similarly disastrous – four defeats, one goal scored and 16 conceded. But there was recognition from Conmebol that at last an attempt at progress is being made. And this maybe contains a wider truth for the women’s game in South America.

The sport is clearly developing. On paper the continent is sending its strongest ever contingent of teams to the next World Cup. But the message coming from the Euros is worrying. South America might be developing, but if Europe is developing quicker then the gap between them is growing. Next year it will be up to Chile and Paraguay (perhaps), Argentina and Colombia (certainly) and Brazil (beyond all doubt) to try to show that this is not the case.

Tim Vickery has been voted ‘Foreign Correspondent of The Year’ three times by Brazilian journalists and praised five times (and you bet he’s counting) in the column of the great Tostão. He covers South American football when he’s not otherwise engaged thinking about music and clothes. @Tim_Vickery