Histora.org newsletter July 31, 2001 Colombia have won the 2001 Copa America in front of their home fans after defeating Mexico in the final 1-0. The title is Colombia's first, and is fully deserved after completing a flawless campaign in which they scored 11 goals and conceded none. The tournament featured surprisingly attractive play as it almost never even took place due to severe political turmoil in Colombia. By the time everything had been settled and the tournament got underway, it was without Argentina and Canada, who withdrew, while Costa Rica and Honduras stepped in. Most nations who participated withheld their best players, opting to send their second or third squads instead. Perhaps next time, a tournament of the supposed stature of the Copa America should be held some other time than in the middle of World Cup qualifiers. Here is a recap of the 2001 Copa America: =============================================================== First Round =============================================================== R Nation Pts GD P W D L GF GA Col Chi Ecu Ven - ------ --- -- - - - - -- -- --- --- --- --- 1. Colombia 9 +5 3 3 0 0 5 0 ___ 2-0 1-0 2-0 2. Chile 6 +2 3 2 0 1 5 3 ___ ___ 4-1 1-0 3. Ecuador 3 0 3 1 0 2 5 5 ___ ___ ___ 4-0 4. Venezuela 0 -7 3 0 0 3 0 7 ___ ___ ___ ___ --------------------------------------------------------------- R Nation Pts GD P W D L GF GA Bra Mex Per Par - ------ --- -- - - - - -- -- --- --- --- --- 1. Brazil 6 +3 3 2 0 1 5 2 ___ 0-1 2-0 3-1 2. Mexico 4 0 3 1 1 1 1 1 ___ ___ 0-1 0-0 3. Peru 4 -1 3 1 1 1 4 5 ___ ___ ___ 3-3 4. Paraguay 2 -2 3 0 2 1 4 6 ___ ___ ___ ___ --------------------------------------------------------------- R Nation Pts GD P W D L GF GA CR Hon Uru Bol - ------ --- -- - - - - -- -- --- --- --- --- 1. Costa Rica 7 +5 3 2 1 0 6 1 ___ 1-0 1-1 4-0 2. Honduras 6 +2 3 2 0 1 3 1 ___ ___ 1-0 2-0 3. Uruguay 4 0 3 1 1 1 2 2 ___ ___ ___ 1-0 4. Bolivia 0 -7 3 0 0 3 0 7 ___ ___ ___ ___ =============================================================== ============================================ Quarter-Finals Semi-Finals Final Winner -------------- ----------- ----- ------ Colombia (3 - 0) Colombia Peru (2 - 0) Colombia Brazil (0 - 2) Honduras Honduras (1 - 0) Colombia Uruguay (2 - 1) Uruguay Costa Rica (1 - 2) Mexico Chile (0 - 2) Mexico Mexico ============================================ So defending champions Brazil were eliminated in the quarter-finals by Honduras, yet another shock to the four time world champions. Here are the previous champions: ========================================= Year Winner Runner-Up ---- ------ --------- 1910 Argentina 4-1 Uruguay 1916 Uruguay 0-0 Argentina 1917 Uruguay 1-0 Argentina 1919 Brazil 1-0, 2-2 Uruguay 1920 Uruguay 1-1 Argentina 1921 Argentina 1-0 Brazil 1922 Brazil 3-0, 1-1 Paraguay 1923 Uruguay 2-0 Argentina 1924 Uruguay 0-0 Argentina 1925 Argentina 2-2, 4-1 Brazil 1926 Uruguay 2-0 Argentina 1927 Argentina 3-2 Uruguay 1929 Argentina 4-1 Paraguay 1935 Uruguay 3-0 Argentina 1937 Argentina 1-0, 2-0 Brazil 1939 Peru 2-1 Uruguay 1941 Argentina 2-1 Uruguay 1942 Uruguay 1-0 Argentina 1945 Argentina 3-1 Brazil 1947 Argentina 6-0 Paraguay 1949 Brazil 1-2, 7-0 Paraguay 1953 Paraguay 2-1, 3-2 Brazil 1955 Argentina 1-0 Chile 1956 Uruguay 2-1 Chile 1957 Argentina 3-0 Brazil 1958 Argentina 1-1 Brazil 1959 Uruguay 5-0 Argentina 1963 Bolivia 2-0 Paraguay 1967 Uruguay 1-0 Argentina 1975 Peru 0-1, 2-0, 0-0 Colombia 1979 Paraguay 3-0, 0-1 Chile 1983 Uruguay 2-0, 1-1 Brazil 1987 Uruguay 1-0 Chile 1989 Brazil 1-0 Uruguay 1991 Argentina 3-2 Brazil 1993 Argentina 2-1 Mexico 1995 Uruguay 1-1 Brazil 1997 Brazil 3-1 Bolivia 1999 Brazil 3-0 Uruguay 2001 Colombia 1-0 Mexico =============================================== If we measure success in the Copa America by awarding 6 points to the victors, 3 to the runners-up, and 1 to losing semi-finalists, we get the following ranking: ==================================================================== R Nation TPts Apps 1st 2nd Pld Wins Drws Loss GFor GAgs GDif - ------ ---- ---- --- --- --- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- 1. Argentina 120 36 14 10 156 97 31 28 380 152 +228 2. Uruguay 116 38 14 7 168 97 25 46 356 183 +173 3. Brazil 76 29 6 10 149 84 26 39 341 170 +171 4. Paraguay 39 30 2 5 137 55 28 54 218 242 -24 5. Chile 28 33 _ 4 149 50 25 74 233 271 -38 6. Peru 23 26 2 _ 123 42 30 51 180 205 -25 7. Colombia 13 16 1 1 87 29 20 38 104 155 -51 8. Bolivia 11 20 1 1 91 19 21 51 86 225 -139 9. Mexico 8 5 _ 2 26 9 8 9 34 31 +3 10. Ecuador 2 22 _ _ 101 14 19 68 107 280 -173 11. United States 1 2 _ _ 8 2 2 4 8 9 -1 12. Honduras 1 1 _ _ 5 3 _ 2 5 3 2 13. Venezuela _ 12 _ _ 42 1 6 35 27 144 -117 14. Costa Rica _ 2 _ _ 7 2 2 3 9 13 -4 15. Japan _ 1 _ _ 3 _ 1 2 3 8 -5 ==================================================================== TPts = Tournament Points Apps = Appearances 1st = Titles 2nd = Times runners-up Pld = Matches played Wins = Victories Drws = Draws Loss = Losses GFor = Goals for GAgs = Goals against GDif = Goal difference