South America let me down

I had high opinions of the quality of soccer in South America, and was looking forward to some keenly contested matches in the ongoing Copa America 2007. Instead, this is what the Latinos have to show as the scorelines of the quarter-finals matches.

• Uruguay 4 - 1 Venezuela


• Brazil 6 - 1 Chile


• Mexico 6 - 0 Paraguay


• Argentina 4 - 0 Peru

When I was visiting Rio last year for a conference, my labmate who was with me told me that the best player in the soccer team at their high school used to be a Brazilian. And, that Brazilian dude had to be content playing goalie when he went back home. Looks like I extrapolated a bit too much from that piece of data. Based on the performances so far at Copa America, the right conclusions I should have drawn seem to be -- 1. quality of soccer in the US sucks, and 2. the average quality of soccer in Brazil (not the whole of South America!) is much higher.

Anyway, hope at least the semis and finals turn out to be exciting encounters.