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1. Coach Alejandro Sabella has steered Argentina capably through storm Sabella was thrown in at the deep end when he was appointed less than two years ago. In theory, the 2011 Copa America was a training ground for the current set of World Cup qua...

A team takes part in World Cup qualification for two reasons. The first, almost too obvious to mention, is in a quest to gain an invitation to the planet's premier sporting party. The other is to use the competitive environment of the qualifiers to p...

Who can stop the Brazilians? It is the big question as the 54th version of the Copa Libertadores kicks off. Once upon a time, South America's premier club competition was dominated by clubs from Argentina -- the country still boasts more titles (...

For Luiz Felipe Scolari, starting his second spell as Brazil coach with a trip to face England is "the best debut possible." Though his spell in charge of Chelsea did not last as long as he would have liked, Scolari said that he loved his time there...

Covering the past eight South American Under-20 Championships, I have been honoured to catch the early stages of many great careers. There is one, though, that stands out above all others. Eight years ago, Lionel Messi was an unknown 17-year-old w...

One of South America's showpiece occasions descended into farce Wednesday night. In the second leg of the final of the Copa Sudamericana, the continent's Europa League equivalent, home side Sao Paulo of Brazil were awarded the trophy after just 45 mi...

As a club coach in the 1990s Luiz Felipe Scolari professed to have no interest in taking charge of the Brazilian national team. Then, in 2001, with a year to go until the World Cup in Japan and South Korea, he changed his mind and stepped into the ro...

Neymar sent a penalty kick into orbit over New Jersey in Brazil's recent friendly against Colombia, but the goals keep flowing for the 20-year-old Santos star. Indeed, he is well-placed to retain his title as scorer of the FIFA goal of the year. ...

1. Time to put to bed all that talk of Messi not showing his club form for his country It's becoming out of date. After the slow, problematic start -- with the defeat to Venezuela and the draw at home to Bolivia -- this campaign looks like Lio Mes...

During the 2006 World Cup in Germany, the only time Kaka was not seen filming everything around him was when he was on the pitch playing for Brazil. He had expected to record some treasured memories -- forming the much-hyped "magic quartet" with Rona...

The most competitive World Cup qualification campaign on the planet reaches the halfway stage Friday when South America plays its ninth round of matches. Just three points separate Argentina at the top of the table from Venezuela down in sixth place....

The latest round of World Cup qualifying in South America is in the rearview mirror. Here's what we learned. 1. Colombia mean business Going into Friday's seventh round of South America's World Cup qualifiers, Colombia were in sixth place, an in...

With Euro 2012 followed by the season's big kickoff and the excitement of the transfer window, only now is Europe turning its attention to the need to qualify for the next World Cup. South America, meanwhile, is in a very different situation. Sigh...

Tim Vickery wonders if Brazil can groom more creative midfielders a la Spain in time for the 2014 World Cup on home soil.

For years, Brazil put its tactical emphasis on the counterattack. But seeing Spain's dominance of the world game, it's now trying to reinvent itself with more skilled players in the midfield, writes Tim Vickery.

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