Hosts Argentina and defending champions Brazil both crashed out of the Copa America on penalties at the quarter final stage.
After drawing 1 - 1 with Uruguay in normal time, Carlos Tevez missed his penalty to allow Uruguay to progress to the semis 5 - 4. Brazil, playing later in the day against Paraguay, went in to their shoot out after a 0 - 0 draw. They were unable to hit the back of the net in the shoot out also as Elano, Thiago Silva, Andre Santos and Fred all failed to score.
Brazil and Argentina have played out the last two Copa finals and, despite going into the tournament in indifferent form, were the two pre-tournament favourites this year. Their exits will, most probably, result in outside interest in the tournament decreasing. However, neither team were particularly convincing in the group stages; Argentina laboured to successive draws against Bolivia and Columbia before beating Costa Rica to qualify, whilst Brazil registered draws against Venezuela and Paraguay and a victory against Ecuador.
For both teams, the early exists have confirmed that there are problems. Both installed new managers following the World Cup and, as of yet, have failed to convince their fans that they are heading in the right direction.
Sergio Batista's Argentina are still searching for a formation that can get the best out of Leo Messi. They began the tournament attempting to mimic Barcelona with a 4-3-3 formation with Messi playing in his "false number 9" role. However, this did not work and Argentina leave the tournament still looking for a way to utilise the world's best player effectively.
Brazil on the other hand are a team short of star quality. Following Dunga's reign of 'pragmatism' over the traditional Samba flair, Mario Menezes is still trying to find the right balance of entertainment and results. Without a competitive match until the 2014 World Cup, they will have to establish that balance in friendlies.
As for the Copa America, the unlikely semi finals see Uruguay take on Peru and Paraguay face Venezuela. Peru and Venezuela both failed to qualify for the 2010 World Cup, but their performances in the Copa suggest that they have a genuine chance of making it to Brazil in 2014. Uruguay and Paraguay on the otherhand are both consolidating after very impressive showings in South Africa. But, following the exists of Brazil and Argentina, all four teams will now have strong aspirations of lifting the Copa in Buenos Aires next Sunday .
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