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#1 Colombia sends an early marker
Much of the pre-tournament discussions about the 2019 Copa America favorites centered heavily around Brazil, while Uruguay and Argentina also got mentions and rightly so, as they are by far the biggest footballing nations on the continent.
Only the aforementioned three countries have won the World Cup, while they occupy the top three spots in the number of Copa America trophies won.
Comparatively, Colombia is a relatively modest footballing nation, having triumphed in the Copa America just once on home soil in 2001 while their best ever finish at the World Cup remains their quarter-final appearance in 2014 at Brazil (which coincidentally is also the host of this year's Copa America).
However, in recent years Colombian football has seen an upturn in fortune, as their players now ply their trade at the biggest clubs in the world, with James Rodriguez and Radamel Falcao being their biggest exports while Carlos Bacca, Yerry Mina, Juan Cuadrado and Duvan Zapata are also players of considerable ability.
While Colombia would be more than happy to maintain their outsider's rank for the title, the manner in which they took apart a Messi-led Argentina shows that this is a team which is more than capable of holding its own with anyone on the continent.
