One of the things that I love about the beautiful game is that it never stops. From the world cup to the euro, champions league and so on, a soccer fan will always have something to watch, no matter what time of the year it is. This summer is no different as South America is preparing to show off its fantastic free-flowing football in this year's 2011 Copa America in Argentina.
Whenever talking about South America, two countries come to mind right away. The giants of the footballing world and long- time rivals, Brazil and Argentina. There are some great rivalries in the world, but none is bigger than these two and for all the right reasons. Most nations will include politics, history, economics and other sociological reasons to fuel their rivalry. For example, English fans will sing, "Two world wars and one world cup. doo dah, doo dah” every time England faces Germany. The rivalry between Brazil and Argentina is very passionate but is fueled by something different.
The two countries never fought a war. They have always enjoyed a great political relationship and their economies have always supported each other. Brazil is considered the greatest footballing country in the world. They have 5 world cup titles to their name, more than any other country. They consistently produce world class super star players, and Brazil is the birth place of Pele, the greatest soccer player in history. His brilliance was matched only by Diego Maradona who was born and played for Argentina. With a great footballing tradition, Argentina has won the world cup twice and is consistently regarded as one of the best teams in the world. World’s current best soccer player, Lionel Messi, hails from Argentina among others. I can go on and on about how great both countries are and that’s what makes this rivalry so special. Whenever these two play, it’s purely about the football and about being the best at it. No matter if it's a friendly match or a world cup final, the winner always walks away as the best in the world.
There were many passionate and controversial encounters between these two and, this time around, it shouldn't be any different. Fans will expect these two to face each other in the final of this year's Copa America. Of course, reaching the final will not be easy. Uruguay’s 4th place finish at last year’s World Cup shows just how strong they have become. Other teams like Paraguay, Colombia and Ecuador all have strong players that would love to beat Brazil or Argentina. A win against either is always considered a great achievement.
Copa America is the oldest international competition dating back to 1916, but has been overshadowed by the FIFA World Cup and Uefa Euro tournaments. But the passion of South American football is something that very few competitions can match. So if you want to know why they call it the "beautiful game”, I suggest you don’t miss a second of Copa America when it rolls around on July 1st, 2011.
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