After a political imbroglio, the Copa América 2020 initially scheduled in Colombia and Argentina is taking place in Brazil in a restrictive health framework.
Despite being the defending champion, the Seleção’s performance has not exactly excited fans. The game against Peru summed this up, where the media hit at the Seleção despite a win.
After 3 wins against Venezuela, Peru, Colombia and a draw against Ecuador, Brazil easily qualified for first place in Group B and will play the quarter-finals against Chile on July 2 (3 July in the morning in Europe).
Brazilians have not really shown interest in the Copa America
According to Google data, Brazilians have searched 10% more for information on Euro 2020 than on Copa América this year, a shame as the competition is played on national soil. In fact, the dean of international competitions is not so interested in the country.
During the Copa América 2019, apart from the final, the stadiums of the Seleção matches were not full. Worse, we remember the match of Ecuador against Japan played at Mineirão in front of less than 10,000 people even though the stadium has a capacity of 62,000 seats.
Why the drop in interest?
The format of the Copa América poses a problem. This competition, organized every two years, features teams that meet regularly for the World Cup qualifiers. La Seleção finished the Copa América group stage on June 27 against Ecuador after playing against Ecuador on June 4 for the 2022 World Cup qualifiers.
With only 10 countries, South America still offers the same posters over the years. As the World Cup record shows (the Europeans have won all the trophies since 2002), the South American teams are not competitive at the world level. Only Brazil and to a lesser extent Argentina and Uruguay exist outside the continent.
The political situation has also played with the controversy arising from the organization of the competition in the context of the epidemic. Even though the number of Covid-19-related deaths has steadily declined since the start of the competition, many Brazilians still believe it was disrespectful to organize the competition in this context. The 7-1 in 2014 also removed the Brazilians from a selection deemed weak and monopolized by the escapades of Neymar. The victory in 2019 was Brazil’s first title since 2007.
Finally, the Serie A championship continues during the competition. Many Brazilian clubs are deprived of players who left with the Brazilian selection but also Chilean, Colombian, Venezuelan.
Football fans are interested in their club, the general public in other things.
In a difficult economic and health context, the Copa América does not interest the Brazilians. Football fans prefer to be interested in their teams and people less interested in football clearly have other things to think about right now.
Empty stadiums, controversies and posters seen and reviewed do not attract football fans or those who usually follow the Seleção in international competitions. One can even think that the Olympic Games in Tokyo will also have a small audience in this context.
Brazil will face Chile on July 3 at 2 a.m. in Europe for a place in the semi-finals.
