February 18 – In a boost to the country’s youth football, Brazil have retained the South American U-20 Championship after Argentina failed to get any reward from the last matchday of the tournament.
They needed a sizeable victory against Paraguay to top the standings, but instead they lost 3-2. As a result, Brazil, who defeated Chile 3-0, finished first on 13 points, three more than Argentina.
Brazil’s title marked a major turnaround, as the defending champions had made a dreadful start, crashing 6-0 to Argentina in their opening match.
However, manager Ramon Menezes then rang the changes to give his side more of a defensive and pragmatic outlook, and got the campaign back on track with 1-0 victories against Colombia and Uruguay.
Two years ago, Menezes led Brazil to the continental U-20 title, but his team flopped at the World Cup, exiting in the quarter-finals. He then failed to qualify Brazil’s U-23 team for the Olympic Games in Paris and was almost on the way out, but Brazil’s problems at senior level meant the Brazilian FA (CBF) had more pressing matters.
With clubs not releasing their best players, Brazil’s squad was limited, but the South Americans will need to improve to tackle bigger challenges this year.
In the autumn, the Brazilians will be South America’s top representatives at the U-20 World Cup in Chile, having won the competition on five occasions, the last of which came in 2011 in Colombia.
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