June 30 (Reuters) - Factbox on teams in Group B at the Copa America in Argentina:
BRAZIL
* Winners in 1919, 1922, 1949, 1989, 1997, 1999, 2004, 2007.
FORM
* Holders Brazil, who have won four of the last five Copa America tournaments, have played eight friendlies under new coach Mano Menezes, losing two against top opponents Argentina and France.
* They have sought to play to Brazil’s traditional strengths of attacking movements across the face of opposing defences and penetration on the basis of superior balls skills and cheek and away from the dour, defensive approach of former coach Dunga.
COACH
* Menezes, who replaced Dunga after Brazil’s quarter-final elimination at the 2010 World Cup, gets his first chance to spend a long time with his players and begin to build a team to host the World Cup in 2014.
* He is putting the emphasis back on Brazil’s traditional attacking virtues after the pragmatic Dunga era.
LEADING PLAYERS
* Young playmaker Paulo Henrique Ganso and striker Neymar, who have just helped Santos win the South American club title, the Libertadores Cup, are at the heart of the team Menezes is building for the 2014 World Cup.
* Robinho, a key player in Brazil’s 2007 victory, is also in the side, but Kaka and Ronaldinho have been overlooked after also missing the previous tournament having asked not to be selected.
* Alexandre Pato and Fred will compete for the central striker’s position.
* The Inter Milan trio of goalkeeper Julio Cesar and defenders Lucio and Maicon have been retained from the 2010 World Cup squad along with Barcelona’s Daniel Alves and Santos midfielder Elano.
* Menezes also favours youth in midfield, though, with Ramires, Elias, Sandro and Sao Paulo teenager Lucas vying for places alongside Ganso.
TACTICS: 4-3-3
- - - -
PARAGUAY
* Winners: 1953, 1979.
FORM
* Paraguay have had a string of mostly good results in warm-up friendlies as they look to consolidate on their best World Cup last year and break the traditional mould of solid defence and aerial strengths with a more rounded, attacking game.
* Gerardo Martino, one of the few coaches to retain his job after the 2010 World Cup finals, recognises that Paraguay still have a long way to go in playing a possession game with good midfield build-up.
COACH
* Argentine Martino, still in charge after steering Paraguay to last year’s World Cup quarter-finals, has agreed to stay on until the 2014 finals in Brazil although there will be a review of his position after the Copa America.
* The 48-year-old former Newell’s Old Boys midfielder had a stand at the club’s ground in Rosario named after him in 2009 in recognition of his services to the team where he spent almost all of his playing career.
LEADING PLAYERS
* Paraguay, whose traditional strengths lie in defence, have leading European-based strikers in their squad like Nelson Haedo Valdez, Argentine-born Lucas Barrios, going to his first Copa America, and Roque Santa Cruz, who is a goal short of the Paraguayan record of 25 held by Jose Cardozo.
TACTICS: 4-4-2
- - - -
ECUADOR
* Best finish: Fourth place in 1959 and 1993 on the only occasion they hosted the tournament.
FORM
* Ecuador are looking to build a new side as the generation that played at the 2002 and 2006 World Cups, the country’s first finals, are on the wane and did not make it to South Africa last year.
* They belong to a group of three countries who have not won the tournament along with Chile and Venezuela but their chances of emerging victorious in Argentina are minimal.
COACH
* Reinaldo Rueda, the third successive Colombian to take the post, was chosen after steering Honduras to the 2010 World Cup finals.
* Tasked with leading Ecuador back to the World Cup finals in Brazil after they missed last year’s tournament in South Africa having been to the previous two.
LEADING PLAYERS
* Right winger Antonio Valencia of Manchester United, Ecuador’s most successful export after former captain Alex Aguinaga, who spent most of his career in Mexico.
* Midfielders Jefferson Montero and Cristian Noboa and Mexico-based striker Cristian Benitez.
TACTICS: 3-5-1-1
- - - -
VENEZUELA
* Best finish: 2007 quarter-finals when Venezuela hosted the tournament.
* They took part for the first time in 1967 and their 3-0 win over Bolivia that year was their only win in the competition until 2007 when as hosts they won their group unbeaten with a victory and two draws. They have come a long way since their worst result, an 11-0 defeat against Argentina in 1975.
FORM
* Venezuela is unique among the 10 South American nations in preferring baseball to soccer. However, soccer has mushroomed in popularity in the last five years.
COACH
* Cesar Farias, the first Venezuela coach with a selection problem because of too many rather than too few candidates for a place in the squad, many of them part of the Venezuela team that played at the 2009 Under-20 World Cup in Egypt.
LEADING PLAYERS
* Midfielders Ronald Vargas, based in Belgium and regarded as Venezuela’s best footballing export, and German-based 31-year-old Juan Arango, the “Caribbean Hurricane”, and teenage striker Yohandry Orozco, also in Germany and who shone at the South American under-20 championship in Peru this year.
TACTICS: 4-4-2
BRAZIL
* Winners in 1919, 1922, 1949, 1989, 1997, 1999, 2004, 2007.
FORM
* Holders Brazil, who have won four of the last five Copa America tournaments, have played eight friendlies under new coach Mano Menezes, losing two against top opponents Argentina and France.
* They have sought to play to Brazil’s traditional strengths of attacking movements across the face of opposing defences and penetration on the basis of superior balls skills and cheek and away from the dour, defensive approach of former coach Dunga.
COACH
* Menezes, who replaced Dunga after Brazil’s quarter-final elimination at the 2010 World Cup, gets his first chance to spend a long time with his players and begin to build a team to host the World Cup in 2014.
* He is putting the emphasis back on Brazil’s traditional attacking virtues after the pragmatic Dunga era.
LEADING PLAYERS
* Young playmaker Paulo Henrique Ganso and striker Neymar, who have just helped Santos win the South American club title, the Libertadores Cup, are at the heart of the team Menezes is building for the 2014 World Cup.
* Robinho, a key player in Brazil’s 2007 victory, is also in the side, but Kaka and Ronaldinho have been overlooked after also missing the previous tournament having asked not to be selected.
* Alexandre Pato and Fred will compete for the central striker’s position.
* The Inter Milan trio of goalkeeper Julio Cesar and defenders Lucio and Maicon have been retained from the 2010 World Cup squad along with Barcelona’s Daniel Alves and Santos midfielder Elano.
* Menezes also favours youth in midfield, though, with Ramires, Elias, Sandro and Sao Paulo teenager Lucas vying for places alongside Ganso.
TACTICS: 4-3-3
- - - -
PARAGUAY
* Winners: 1953, 1979.
FORM
* Paraguay have had a string of mostly good results in warm-up friendlies as they look to consolidate on their best World Cup last year and break the traditional mould of solid defence and aerial strengths with a more rounded, attacking game.
* Gerardo Martino, one of the few coaches to retain his job after the 2010 World Cup finals, recognises that Paraguay still have a long way to go in playing a possession game with good midfield build-up.
COACH
* Argentine Martino, still in charge after steering Paraguay to last year’s World Cup quarter-finals, has agreed to stay on until the 2014 finals in Brazil although there will be a review of his position after the Copa America.
* The 48-year-old former Newell’s Old Boys midfielder had a stand at the club’s ground in Rosario named after him in 2009 in recognition of his services to the team where he spent almost all of his playing career.
LEADING PLAYERS
* Paraguay, whose traditional strengths lie in defence, have leading European-based strikers in their squad like Nelson Haedo Valdez, Argentine-born Lucas Barrios, going to his first Copa America, and Roque Santa Cruz, who is a goal short of the Paraguayan record of 25 held by Jose Cardozo.
TACTICS: 4-4-2
- - - -
ECUADOR
* Best finish: Fourth place in 1959 and 1993 on the only occasion they hosted the tournament.
FORM
* Ecuador are looking to build a new side as the generation that played at the 2002 and 2006 World Cups, the country’s first finals, are on the wane and did not make it to South Africa last year.
* They belong to a group of three countries who have not won the tournament along with Chile and Venezuela but their chances of emerging victorious in Argentina are minimal.
COACH
* Reinaldo Rueda, the third successive Colombian to take the post, was chosen after steering Honduras to the 2010 World Cup finals.
* Tasked with leading Ecuador back to the World Cup finals in Brazil after they missed last year’s tournament in South Africa having been to the previous two.
LEADING PLAYERS
* Right winger Antonio Valencia of Manchester United, Ecuador’s most successful export after former captain Alex Aguinaga, who spent most of his career in Mexico.
* Midfielders Jefferson Montero and Cristian Noboa and Mexico-based striker Cristian Benitez.
TACTICS: 3-5-1-1
- - - -
VENEZUELA
* Best finish: 2007 quarter-finals when Venezuela hosted the tournament.
* They took part for the first time in 1967 and their 3-0 win over Bolivia that year was their only win in the competition until 2007 when as hosts they won their group unbeaten with a victory and two draws. They have come a long way since their worst result, an 11-0 defeat against Argentina in 1975.
FORM
* Venezuela is unique among the 10 South American nations in preferring baseball to soccer. However, soccer has mushroomed in popularity in the last five years.
COACH
* Cesar Farias, the first Venezuela coach with a selection problem because of too many rather than too few candidates for a place in the squad, many of them part of the Venezuela team that played at the 2009 Under-20 World Cup in Egypt.
LEADING PLAYERS
* Midfielders Ronald Vargas, based in Belgium and regarded as Venezuela’s best footballing export, and German-based 31-year-old Juan Arango, the “Caribbean Hurricane”, and teenage striker Yohandry Orozco, also in Germany and who shone at the South American under-20 championship in Peru this year.
TACTICS: 4-4-2
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