GROUP A PREVIEW

Group A of the Cosmos Copa Group Stage will have a strong South American flavor with three teams from the continent—Argentina, Bolivia, and Colombia—competing alongside Italy. This group should be one of the most open in the competition because it is the only one without any of last year’s quarterfinalists represented. 

If previous form is any indication, goals may come at a premium in this group, with the three qualifying teams only allowing four goals combined in their 12 total qualifying games.

Italy will most likely be favorites to advance out of the group. They are the most well balanced side in Group A, with an attack that tallied seven goals and a stingy defense that did not concede a single goal in all four of its qualifying matches. Italy’s strength is certainly in the back, specifically their magnificent regista Jeff Matteo. Matteo has been a staple of Cosmos Copa and the New York City soccer scene for many years. Matteo shields the Italian defense while spraying silky passes to his younger quicker teammates further down the field. The Italians dominated possession in all of their qualifying games and this can be attributed to the calming influence of the veteran Matteo. Italy has demonstrated that they are solid at the back but there are still some questions in their attack. Do they have enough going forward to get out of the group?

Italy’s defensive assuredness will be needed in a group that will have its share of dangerous attackers. One of the standout attackers of the Qualifying Tournament was Bolivia’s Kevin Riveros. Riveros is a young striker with huge potential that is poised to break out in a huge way in this Copa tournament. Only a teenager, Riveros made a splash in qualifying and made fools of some of the best veteran defenders in New York City. Riveros is a sneaky and quick striker with a delicious first touch. Riveros ability to lose his marker, bring down his keeper's long kicks with one touch, and then create his own scoring opportunities is one of the main facets of Bolivia's quick-strike attack. A steady crew of hard working two-way midfielders and physical defenders supports Riveros. Bolivia was one of the pleasant surprises of the Qualifying Tournament but the Group Stages are a serious jump in class. Do they have enough to continue their run?

Although they were semifinalists in 2010, Argentina may struggle to get out of this competitive Group A. They only managed to score six goals in their four Qualifying Tournament games in what was a relatively weak Group 1. Argentina seemed to struggle in the midfield. At times they were unable to get much of an attacking rhythm going and were unable to string passes together. However, Argentina’s strength will be its physicality. They are an imposing side that’s eager to get stuck into a tackle and may be able to boss around the smaller sides like Bolivia and Colombia. To get out of the group they are going to maintain this aggressive defending while greatly improving their attack.

Colombia is the only team in Group A that was able to avoid the Qualifying Tournament and “pre-qualify” for the Cosmos Copa Group Stages. While the team was not a quarterfinalist last year, they were able to pre-qualify because of a majority vote of all the Cosmos Copa presidents based on the fact that they were the best third-place team in group play of the Copa last year. Team president, Guillermo Lillo is confident that they will be able to better last year’s third place group stage finish and make it to the tournament’s quarterfinals. The team is returning the same core of players from 2011 while also adding some exciting young players, many of whom play together on the PDL’s Brooklyn Knights. However the stars of this Colombian team are the Turizo twins, Christian and Mauricio. These creative and lightning quick brothers have the ability to unlock most defenses at this level and they will need to be on form if Colombia are going to advance. 

Group A by the Numbers: