Copa America 2015: Top 5 contenders for the Golden Boot

Sergio Aguero

Strikers hardly come any deadlier than Sergio Aguero. With the lowest minutes-per-shot ratio (17 minutes) after the extremely ambitious Ronaldo (14 minutes), not to mention the lowest minutes-per-goal ratio in all of Europe’s top five leagues behind Cristiano Ronaldo and Messi, Kun Aguero is as clinical as a thermometer.

Competing for the Golden Boot seems to have become his raison d’etre, and he will leave no stone unturned in trying to do so in June. Likely to partner Messi, or be the focal point of the triumvirate completed by Tevez, Aguero must already have started visiting the nightmares of the Paraguayans – against whom Argentina will play their first fixture.

**AGUERO STATS - 2014/15**
	Matches	Shots on target	Mins per goal	Goals
Premier League	31	73	94	25
Champions League	7	14	92	6
FA Cup	1	N/A	-	0
League Cup	1	N/A	-	0
International	2	N/A	90	1
Total	39	N/A	96	32

Prediction: Nobody likes wearing one shoe. With the Premier League Golden Boot all but his, Aguero could find his pair-piece in the 2015 Copa America.

Lionel Messi

It must be noted that Messi’s prolific goalscoring ability hasn’t transcended the vagaries of intra-continental football. Notwithstanding that, Messi still enters the 2015 Copa America as the strongest contender for the Golden Boot, simply because he is Messi.

A lukewarm World Cup campaign was still enough to win him the Golden Ball. So, even if Messi is a shadow of himself in the Copa America, he could still end up scoring the most goals; so wide is the chasm between Messi and the rest of the (South American) world.

If Messi does fire on all cylinders though, God save the teams on the receiving end.