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28 BRAZIL are under intense pressure as hosts, Lionel Messi is desperate to end his Argen- tina trophy drought, and James Rodriguez is perhaps ready to shine on a major stage with Co- lombia again. There are storylines eve- rywhere at the 46th Copa America, which starts on Fri- day. The injured Neymar will be absent, but the world's oldest continental football competi- tion is set to provide gripping entertainment. First contested in 1916, the Copa America initially took place almost every year - lead- ing to a rapid rise in interest and playing standards, and ul- timately the beginnings of the World Cup. When Uruguay caused a sen- sation by cruising to the gold medal in Paris 1924, it became clear that football had out- grown the Olympics. A new tournament was needed to find out who really was the best. And so the World Cup was born: first staged, and won, by Uruguay in 1930. But there is more to the Copa than rich history. For South America, the road to the 2022 World Cup starts here. The continent's national teams have been restricted to friendlies since Russia 2018. The next few weeks in Brazil, then, are the start of a new cy- cle. There are plenty of new coaches and lots of fresh faces in the line-ups. Put to the test in competitive conditions, some of these coaches and players will establish themselves, oth- ers may fall by the wayside. Pressure on the hosts Some may come to the Copa to experiment, but that privi- lege is never extended to the hosts. Few Copa hosts have been under as much pressure to win as Brazil are in 2019 - the cen- tenary of their first triumph in the competition. They still have painful memo- ries of their World Cup semi- final humiliation by Germany five years ago; in addition, they have not got beyond the quarter-finals at the past three Copa tournaments, falling at the group stage three years ago. Brazil have won every Copa they have ever staged. The bar of acceptable performance, then, is set at nothing less than victory. This helps explain the pres- ence of so much experience in the Brazil squad. Daniel Alves is back, coach Tite has worked furiously to coax Fernandinho into a return - and even the injury suffered by Neymar has opened up an opportunity for another veteran, Willian of Chelsea. With his job on the line, Tite has thought hard about the balance of his team, confessing that Brazil were too open in last year's World Cup quarter-final defeat against Belgium. Rather than continually flying forward, the full-backs are ex- pected to construct from deep. The replacement of former Tottenham man Paulinho by Barcelona's Arthur in the mid- field trio is designed to supply more solidity, and give Philippe Coutinho a platform to shine in the final 30 yards. Manchester City's Gabriel Je- sus appears to have hit form at the right time, and looks set to take back his place from Liver- pool's Roberto Firmino. Ever- ton forward Richarlison has enjoyed a splendid first season in the national team and Da- vid Neres, fresh from helping Ajax to the Champions League semi-finals, crashes the party full of attacking promise. The group phase looks a breeze - and it began with a 3-0 win over Bolivia on Friday night - but, just as in 2014, Bra- zil's nerve will be tested when the knockout matches begin. Messi is serious Not too long ago, Lionel Mes- si's participation in this Copa looked in doubt. He sat out all of Argentina's post-World Cup friendlies last year. The team, bizarrely, are going into a major competition under an inexperienced caretaker- coach, the former West Ham right-back Lionel Scaloni, and there is another Copa com- ing up 12 months from now, in which Messi will be playing at home, as Argentina and Co- lombia are co-hosting. The little man could have been forgiven for putting his feet up for the summer. So his presence in Brazil points to one clear conclusion. He has won the World Un- der-20 Cup and the Olympic gold medal, but time is running out and he is clearly desperate to get his hands on a senior title with the national team. It also seems obvious that Messi has pulled rank and forced the inclusion of Sergio Aguero. The Scaloni camp ap- peared set against calling up the Manchester City striker, with Inter Milan's Mauro Icardi the first-choice centre-forward. Messi, though, made it abun- dantly clear that he rates his old friend Aguero as one of the best players in the world - and so the Messi-Aguero-Di Maria trio are ready to ride again. Elsewhere there have been significant changes. Only nine of the Russia 2018 squad re- main, and there are just five survivors from the last Copa three years ago. It is unclear, though, whether long-running structural problems have been resolved. Goalkeeper continues to be a problem position. There are high hopes for new Porto signing Renzo Saravia at right- back, and Tottenham's Juan Foyth is seen as the future at centre-back. This Copa could be an important examination of their credentials. Prepare for surprises One of the most curious as- pects of the Copa is the pres- ence of two guests, making the numbers up to 12 and thus per- mitting three groups of four. Normally they come from the Concacaf region, but the Gold Cup - starting on Saturday - made this unworkable. The on- ly teams free were those in the Asian Football Confederation, hence the inclusion of Japan and Qatar. The Japanese played in the 1999 Copa in Paraguay, going out at the group stage. They have made plenty of progress since then, but are taking an experimental squad to Brazil. Qatar, though, are treat- ing the Copa as an important part of their preparations to host the 2022 World Cup, and have brought the squad which caused a shock by becoming Asian champions earlier in the year. This might give them an in- teresting advantage. Qatar are battle hardened - while many of the other sides run the risk of being under-cooked. maltatoday | SUNDAY • 16 JUNE 2019 COPA AMERICA SPORTS Lionel Messi means business as Brazil face up to pressure Chile will be defending the Copa America trophy in Brazil