In the first week of class we spent most of our time looking at the sport of soccer. We discussed how big the sport of soccer is in the world, with a special focus on South America and Argentina in particular. Oreadings focused on the Copa America tournament. The article, America’s (Soccer) Cup: 100 Years of Copa América, is an article that looks at the “Centenario”, looking at the special edition of the Copa America soccer tournament held in the United States in 2016. The article tells the history of the Copa America games. A quote that stood out to me was this, “The original impetus for this tournament was to honor the 100th anniversary of Argentina’s declaration of independence from Spain and its push across the Andes to help liberate Chile. In other words, the 2016 Copa America is a centennial celebration of a centennial celebration”. I thought this was really interesting how it worked out to be a celebration of a celebration.This tournament invites different countries to compete. It is a multigenerational celebration that unites peoples in a common love of soccer in the hope of bringing together the western hemisphere. This article also talked about how many people were upset that the tournament was held in the United States and not in a South American country. Considering this being a big anniversary and being a celebration among celebrations, the tournament should have been placed in the area in which it is being celebrated. This was actually the first time the Copa America was not played in South America. To be completely honest I understand why people were upset. I think it should be played in the United States at some point but not the year of the Centenario. This tournament, if anything, should have been held in Argentina. This article also gives some history on Fifa, past olympics, and world cup winners. Another interesting part of the article is when talking about the speculation of awards, the world cup, and Fifa organization officials. The other reading, This is how it all started in 1916 – Heading to the 2024 CONMEBOL Copa America, was also on the Copa America, the history of the tournament and in particular the first ever Copa America. The first tournament ended with a battle between Argentina and Uruguay. Uruguay came out on top as champions.
https://ussporthistory.com/2016/06/06/americas-soccer-cup-100-years-of-copa-america/https://copaamerica.com/news/asi-comenzo-la-historia-en-1916-rumbo-a-la-conmebol-copa-america-2024%EF%B8%8F/?lang=en
