For passionate football fans, the summers can be a bit of drag. When the league season ends and the Champions league final is done and dusted, we have to wait for a considerable time before we witness top quality football again and all we have to amuse ourselves in the meantime are transfer rumours linking just about every big player to just about every big club.
But that isn’t the case in 2016, in fact, we have two absolute top drawer international tournaments right around the corner. Euro 2016 kicks off in a week, and the Copa America kicks off today. Both tournaments don’t really have a clear favourite (even though Argentina do look very strong for the Copa America) and the prospect of a host of teams battling for their prestigious continental honours is a tantalizing prospect.
In this article, I will talk about the attacking talent on display in both the competitions and also look at how a very significant number of the best forwards in the world now hail from South America. So, the Euros might have the glamour but the Copa America in 2016 will be home to some of the best center forwards in world football and will certainly be worth following too.
Attacking talent at the Copa America
We have to begin with Argentina don’t we? First, think of Paulo Dybala, Luciano Vietto and Mauro Icardi, who aren’t even in the squad. Dybala and Icardi (with a combined 39 goals this season) would walk into many of the squads in world football but such is the attacking talent in Argentina that leaving them out isn’t the travesty it would otherwise seem.
Lionel Messi will be determined to make this tournament count after the World cup and Copa America 2015 final heartbreaks. Gonzalo Higuain just shattered a 66-year-old Serie A record on his way to 36 goals in 35 games in Serie A and is in the form of his life and easily amongst the best center forwards in the world.
Sergio Aguero has had a fantastic few years with Manchester City. He racked up 24 league goals this time round in what was a disappointing season for City but in which he did his own reputation no harm. Ezequiel Lavezzi isn’t the player he once was, but still offers guile and creativity.
Colombia have Carlos Bacca, a player with 18 league goals who’s more than protected his reputation of being a fantastic penalty box striker despite Milan’s disastrous season and even though Jackson Martinez has been left out of the squad, the fact that he hasn’t been at his best in recent times means that Colombia won’t be too concerned about his absence.
The prospect of Edinson Cavani and Luis Suarez lining up together for Uruguay will give most defenders in the Copa America sleepless nights. Suarez (58 goals and 19 assists in 50 games) has cemented his place as one of the best center forwards in world football and has had a record breaking season for Barcelona.
Cavani has 81 goals in 148 games since joining PSG, despite being often shunted to the wing, which says a lot about his scoring exploits.
Javier Hernandez (29 goals in 46 games), frustrated by being a super sub at United has had a career-defining season for Bayer Leverkusen. He’ll be leading a Mexico team determined to make a mark in the United States.
Alexis Sanchez (Chile) has proved his mettle in the Serie A, La Liga and the Premier League, leaving his talent and ability in no doubt. In what can be described as a mixed season for him, he has still amassed 17 goals and 9 assists.
Gabriel Barbosa is the latest young Brazilian forward who’s already catching the attention of the powerhouses of European football, the Copa will be an opportunity for him to shine.
Antonio Sanabria has had an amazing season for Sporting Gijon, on loan from Roma, and is a prodigious talent who’ll be looking to make an impression for Paraguay. Each one of his 11 goals for Gijon have been critical to save the team from relegation. Enner Valencia already showed us his ability to turn up in the big tournaments for Ecuador and Joel Campbell will be fresh and raring to go for Costa Rica.
Honourable mentions: Salomon Rondon (Venezuela), Eduardo Vargas (Chile) and Juan Iturbe (Paraguay)
Attacking talent at the Euros
Karim Benzema misses out, so France will be depending on their young dynamic forwards to make a mark. Antoine Griezmann (32 goals in 55 games) has had the season of his life and might have a great tournament.
Anthony Martial and Kingsley Coman are incredibly young but play with the flair and finesse that makes it seem they’ve been around for years. The French attack looks full of vibrancy and promise and one can only hope that they can handle the pressure.
England haven’t had such a potent front line in a while, with two players topping the scoring charts in their league. The only question mark is whether they’ll form a cohesive unit, but if they do, Harry Kane and Jamie Vardy have the quality to rack up enough goals to take England deep into the tournament.
With a combined 49 league goals, they more than made their mark in the 2015-16 Premier League season.
Robert Lewandowski sparkled this year with his 44 goal haul and will try his best to catapult Poland to the knockout stages. Their win over reigning world champions Germany in qualifying will give them the confidence that they can compete with the best.
Gareth Bale bagged seven goals in Wales’ qualifying campaign and had a great finish to his Real Madrid season, imperative in their Champions league campaign. Thomas Muller’s scoring exploits for Germany never fail to dazzle. With 21 goals in his last 32 games for Die Mannschaft, he’s very important to their attacking unit.
Zlatan Ibrahimovic hardly needs an introduction. Even with all the mystery about where he will play his football next season, don’t expect him to turn up distracted for the Euros. He missed the 2014 World Cup (Sweden didn’t qualify), so he’ll be raring to light up the tournament in France.
With 52 goals, he’s had his most productive season yet and seems to age like fine wine.
Cristiano Ronaldo will lead a Portugal team that has often done better than expected at international tournaments; he’ll look to take them far. He’s 31-years-old now but shows absolutely no signs of slowing down. The 51 goals he has accumulated in 2015-16 are a testament to that.
Romelu Lukaku and Michy Batshuayi both have had prolific seasons for their clubs and will look to lead an extremely talented Belgium squad.
Alvaro Morata (Spain) is at the center of a transfer tug of war between a number of English teams, Real Madrid and his current club Juventus. He hasn’t had the best of seasons and has often found himself on the bench at Juve, but has still scored important goals when called upon.
Honourable mentions: Breel Embolo (Switzerland) , Artem Dzyuba (Russia), Mario Mandzukic (Croatia)
Plenty to look forward to at both tournaments:
So, all in all, both tournaments have a plethora of the attacking talents world football has to offer. The only unfortunate pattern is that Brazil and Italy, the powerhouses of world football, who produced a whole host of extraordinary goalscorers up until recently seem to have their reservoir of striking talent suddenly run dry.
Compare the likes of Christian Vieri, Del Piero and Totti to the likes of Graziano Pelle and Ciro Immobile and you can only be saddened. From Ronaldo, Adriano, Rivaldo to only a single player who’s even capable of being mentioned in the same breath as these geniuses and you get my concern.
And even Neymar will be missing from the Copa America. One can only hope that the next generation of youngsters from these two glorious footballing nations can do justice to their country’s legacy.
