Copa America Tournament Awards
By Ryan Wrenn
Most Disappointing Team
For the second international tournament, this honor undoubtedly goes to Brazil. Dunga and his Brazil side entered this Copa on the back of a ten consecutive friendly victories in which they outscored opponents by a factor of 10. And yet, they exited ignominiously against ‘lowly’ Paraguay in the quarterfinals. Such a failure is inexcusable in the eyes of an already-jaded Brazil fanbase. To the rest of us, though, it’s simply baffling. A team with as much talent back to front as this should not struggle. Neymar’s idiotic suspension likely helped the Seleção more than it hurt by, to paraphrase Dunga himself, forcing the team to be more about the shirt than the man.
It wasn’t enough. Brazil showed momentarily flashes of their historical quality but overall seem afflicted with the same malaise that doomed them in last summer’s World Cup. Dunga appears to be staying with Brazil despite their failure though, so perhaps there’s some hope that Brazil can work out their issues ahead of World Cup qualification in the fall.
Next: Most Surprising Team