Costa Rica’s domination in a group which comprises of three former world champions, Chile humbling defending champions Spain by a 2-0 score line and Colombia's exceptional performances in both their matches all points out to just how well Latin American teams have performed in the tournament so far and why they cannot be taken lightly.
Costa Rica followed their impressive victory over Uruguay with another spectacular performance against Italy, as they subjected the 2006 World Champions to a 1-0 defeat and thereby confirmed their place in the next round of the tournament. Chile earned the respect of all football fans when they empathically beat Spain 2-0 thereby knocking them out of the tournament. Colombia who on the other hand were paired with arguably the strongest African side on paper, notched a 2-1 victory over Ivory Coast during their fixture on Thursday. In further good news for American nations, Uruguay also enhanced their chances of moving to the Round of 16 with a 2-0 victory over England.
South American teams currently boast a strong record in the World Cup having won seven, lost two and drawn just one. Putting history into perspective it will not be a surprise if one of the teams from the region ends up winning the title.
South American teams have not played the World Cup in their continent since 1978 something which has settled well for their European counterparts since all of the last seven World Cups held in the Americas have been won by teams from Latin America. This includes World Cup tournaments held in Uruguay (1930), Brazil (1950), Chile (1962) and Argentina (1978). Furthermore two of the four losing finalists were also South American teams, which goes on to show just how well teams tend to perform in favorable conditions.
There are both technical as well emotional reasons which attribute to why Latin American teams have tasted more success when the World Cup is held in their territory. According to some experts the grass used in most of the South American grounds is rougher in texture thereby restricting many European countries which favor a more fluid quick passing style of football from getting in their groove. Players who play their trades at top European clubs fail to adapt to such a surface and thus are not able to produce performances which are expected from them.
Germany coach Joachim Löw highlights another factor which stands in favor of Latin American nations when playing in their own continent. According to the 54 year old they are more capable of withstanding the climate which they are used to, thus having a big advantage over their opponents.
“We can say the Central and South American countries have shown their strengths and the tactics of the Central American teams have been revealed and these teams have shown they are present,” said the Germany coach.
“They know how to deal with the climate conditions, they can play in the middle of the afternoon in the heat.”
Further to this there is also a sense of solidarity among South American football fans who despite of the various differences between a few nations tend to support one another, something which has become very apparent in this edition of the World Cup.
According to football’s governing body, FIFA, a large proportion of the tickets have been bought by fans in nearby nations. It has been reported that close to 60% of the tickets have been purchased by Brazilians. Whereas as far as foreigners are concerned heavily Hispanic U.S. lead the way with close to 200,000 tickets. 61,000 tickets have been bought by Argentinean fans, whereas Chile and Colombia combined boast tickets sales nearing 93,000.
Whereas Brazil and Argentina were two Latin American sides which had been tipped to go far in the tournament, the World Cup so far has proven to be very unpredictable. All of Costa Rica, Chile and Colombia have made their presence felt in the competition so far having pulled off a number of upsets. It remains to be seen whether they will keep their feet on the ground and continue to perform with the same passion and commitment, but one thing is for sure neither of these teams will be taken lightly as we move further ahead into the competition.
