There is no doubt that Chile was the story of the 2015 Copa America tournament with their Cinderella run ending with a championship win over Argentina in penalties. However, while Chile will be celebrated as the big winners of the tournament on their home soil, there are also a number of teams that disappointed. Here is a look at the five biggest losers from the 2015 Copa America tournament.
Brazil
A year ago, Brazil’s World Cup ended in devastating fashion when Neymar suffering a fractured vertebrae and Germany handed them an absolute beating on their home turf. Fast forward a year later and there is no doubt they are once again among this tournament’s biggest losers with Neymar in particular being pointed out. Neymar’s tournament ended prematurely once again but this time it was because he got himself suspended for kicking a ball at an opponent and then head-butting Jeison Murillo as he left the field.
Brazil looked lost without its star striker and made a quick exit from the tournament. Looking at them now, there is no doubt they are no longer considered the potentially dominant soccer power that some had them pegged when last year’s World Cup first got underway.
Uruguay
There are some that will argue Uruguay’s defense of the 2011 Copa America was doomed from the outset. With Luis Suarez suspended, Diego Forlan retired and Martin Caceres injured, it was going to be an uphill climb. Uruguay wasn’t nearly talented or deep enough to compete with the top teams in the tournament and despite a solid back line, the lack of firepower led to a disappointing effort. Suarez’s injury in particular really hurt them. There is a good chance that with Suarez and Caceres back as well as some more reinforcements, Uruguay will do better in their World Cup qualifiers. However, as the defending champions their 2015 Copa America performance certainly had them among the tournament’s biggest losers.
Mexico
The Mexican side wasn’t nearly as strong on paper as they had been in past years after they had to make up two national selections in order to even make sure they would participate in the Copa and Gold Cup. However, even with their roster taking a hit on paper, more was expected of this team heading in to this tournament. Mexico certainly disappointed as they were one of only two teams that failed to win a single game. As a result, they finished at the bottom of their group and certainly deserves to be considered one of the biggest losers from this event.
Jamaica
Jamaicans were proud to make their first Copa America appearance but beyond actually getting in to the tournament, there weren’t many positives to take from their debut performance. Jamaica failed to score a single goal and finished at the bottom of Group B following three straight 1-0 defeats. They might not have been expected to advance past the group stage but they were the only team in the tournament not to pick up a point and for that reason Jamaica deserves a spot on this list.
Gonzalo Higuain/Argentina
It’s hard not to look at the tournament and qualify Higuain and his team as losers. He let the team down again as Argentina just seems cursed in major tournaments these days. Even with arguably the best player in the world in Lionel Messi and a roster of studs, they continue to come up short.
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Higuain is deemed the biggest loser here because of his ridiculous penalty kick, which became one of the defining moments of Copa. As he was lining up, Messi couldn’t even watch – maybe because he knew what was coming. In the end, Argentina – as talented as they are – fell short of expectations again. It wasn’t the first time where this exact story played out as Higuain also couldn’t cash in for Argentina at the 2014 World Cup when they needed him most. What’s worse for Argentina is that they lost – again – in such disheartening fashion. While Messi failed to carry the team to success, Higuain again hurt the cause.
